Trompe Le Monde
by Genevah
Summary: Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need. RT
1. Chapter 1

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author:** Genevah

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

**A/N: **Just testing the Trory waters. Hope it's not too cold in here. Things you might care to know: Piano Kiss happened. Dean and Rory never got back together. Tristan never left. And believe it or not Jess doesn't exist (gasp) Yes, it hurt to say that…

_**Trompe**__** Le Monde**__ means __**Trick the World**_

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_…_

**..…'.' '.' …..**

"Mr. DuGrey…"

_Blue eyes.__ What's so special about blue eyes? His eyes were blue… but hers… hers were much lighter. __Clearer.__ Like the waters of the North Shore. They were the exact same blue. __Pristine and faultless.__ Yeah he did just say that. And it didn't matter… he was alone in his mind…_

"Mr. DuGrey…"

_One look into those eyes and he'd give her anything she wanted… and she knows it too. __God he__ loved gi__rls__. There was just something about them. The way they smelled. The way their soft skin felt against his hands. The way they moaned his name when he-_

He could no longer ignore the object that was currently digging deeper into his back, effectively drawing him further and further away from his thoughts.

He turned around, unable to mask the tiny hint of annoyance that he normally wouldn't show to one of his best friends.

"What?" He whispered to the blond sitting in the desk behind him.

Avery pointed her pencil to the front of the room, unnoticed by the person she was referring to.

Miss Winfield.

Their teacher had interrupted her lecture yet again to regain his attention.

"Mr. DuGrey. This is the third and final time I am going to call your name-"

_Shit._

Before turning around, he quickly changed face to the one he saved for teachers… particularly female teachers which were the ones that would always give him a little leeway with just one look.

"Yes, Miss Winfield?"

"I know there is only a few more minutes left in this class Tristan, but what I am about to tell you and the others is very important. I need your undivided attention. Do you think you could give me that?"

"Yes. Miss Winfield." Tristan made a note to at least pretend he was going to be paying attention now. Sitting straighter than normal, he faux focused, staring into the eyes of Miss Winfield for the remaining of the class, though really looking right through her.

_Where was he__? A__h yes… he'd be seeing those blue eyes soon. Feel her lips… Feel her squirming against him…_

Tristan walked out with Avery after class, asking her to give him a recap of the important thing he missed.

"Daydreaming again?" She asked knowingly.

"Can't help it. I think I'm in love," he half-joked. Behind him he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder holding him back a little and squeezing in-between him and Avery.

"In love again so soon?" Connor piped in.

Connor was his cousin. He a slightly taller version of Tristan and being blood-related he had the same bedroom eyes, same nose, and the same cocky smirk.

"Hey babe," Avery greeted her boyfriend.

"Don't forget to stop by the house before you leave." Tristan stopped walking and pulled Avery into a tight hug. "I still can't get over how you left last time."

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

"Hey how would you like it if I just left town without any mention of it and finally call you five days later saying that I'm in Demark and I'll be staying there for a month," Tristan said letting go of her and tapping her on the tip of her nose.

"I said I was sorry."

"You had us worried. Even Connor had no idea where you were at and he's your freaking boyfriend."

Connor's face fell slightly as he was forced to relive those agonizing five days again. "I haven't forgiven her for that," he pointed out.

"And you shouldn't." Tristan told Connor.

"Well I'm here now. Alive and kickin' so drop it."

"**Tomorrow** Avery," Tristan reminded.

"I know, I know. I'll be there. It's not like I have a choice. Connor's driving me to the airport."

"Alright. I'll see you guys later."

Connor and Avery were the only two out of many of Tristan's friends that he trusted completely. The only two who would have his back and never betray him. These types of friends were hard to come by at Chilton and they meant the world to him.

He casually looked left, then right as he neared the girl's bathroom. The only detour necessary was a quick stop at his locker to deposit the thick literature book he'd been hauling under his arm from his last class. Three secret numbers later, the door to his locker opened with ease. And the first thing he noticed was that she had been in his locker _again_ with yet another picture change… _h__er_ picture change. He'd have to admit he liked this one better than the last one. She had her hair down this time. Her silky brunette locks falling loose over her shoulders.

He had a thing for girls with long brunette hair.

But what is it with girls and _their_ pictures and _his_ locker? The answer- the picture served two purposes: One being the obvious- for him to gaze at (more like an aid to remember who his girlfriend was because yes, they changed as often as he changed cars. Except for his present girlfriend…. she had the potential to be a long-lasting relationship). Secondly- for the other girls who wanted him. It was a small, yet useful display to show that he was off-limits.

The halls were pretty scant now. Students who had a class next should've already been _in_ class since the second bell had already rung. The only students that lingered like him were headed to lunch. He glanced down at his watch, gauging the time left he'd have to wait for her or _if_ he'd have to wait for her. She was usually early. If they planned to meet, she'd almost always be the first one to be there.

He had kept a watchful eye on the girl's bathroom since the time he'd been at his locker. Not a soul came or went. It sure sign to make his move.

Time for another day at the office…

_…_

She was already five minutes late. Miss Gentry caught her right before she left the classroom, requesting her to tutor yet another borderline B student. Though C's were accepted, they were rarely given out. Chilton was a known elite school, harboring the best of the best. And that meant nothing short of a B on a report card.

She already had so much on her plate in her senior year. Between the Franklin and Vice President Duties, the volunteering, the myriad student activities she had to organize, and not to mention a mother that begged for her attention, her plate was on the brink of overflowing.

She had agreed quickly, trying to cut the conversation short, but Miss Gentry went into specifics.

Minutes ticked away.

_Damn__it_! _She had somewhere to be…_

"-Jason's weak points are…" Miss Gentry went on and on, and Rory struggled to hurry her along.

"I'll do what I can Miss Gentry."

"I know you will. You are one of my star pupil's which is why I picked you." The sound of the second bell rang in the hall. "I'm sorry I've kept you. Do you need a pass Ms.Gilmore?"

"No. That's not necessary. I've got lunch now."

_Ha! __Lunch?__ What the hell is that again? _

She couldn't remember the last time she had indulged in such a pleasure.

Rory didn't bother to stop by her locker to free herself of the heavy weight of her backpack. She went straight for little girl's room…

She pushed through the bathroom door, not at all surprised to see what she saw.

"Hey Tristan. Jacqueline."

His mouth still on the prize even with the interruption, he detached himself slightly from the lips in front of him to quickly return the greeting.

Rory headed straight to the stall farthest away from them. Behind the closed stall door, she sat down on the toilet, pee-shy for only a few seconds.

_She had to get going._

After washing her hands and drying them, she uttered, "Bye guys…" Again, Tristan pulled away from the other brunette to acknowledge Rory.

"Later Rory," the couple said in unison.

And with that Rory disappeared behind the door.

She could remember the first time something like this happened. Tristan was with a different girl of course and it was their sophomore year.

**FLASHBACK**

"You should join the school newspaper next year Rory. We could use you as a writer." Avery told her.

"Yeah I'm definitely interested."

Rory liked Avery. They've often been paired together for projects. She was smart and kind and noticeably a very pretty girl. Rory would say that she was one of the few so-called popular girls that were genuinely nice, _to everyone_. Not a snobbish bone in her body.

"So project building tonight, my place?" Avery asked.

"Uh yeah. If we pull another all-nighter I could just sleep over at my grandparent's house."

"Great. So I'll meet you out in front after school."

"Okay."

"See ya."

"See ya."

Rory turned to her locker, her eyes bouncing over every book until she came across the one she needed for her next class. After zipping her backpack with book safely inside, she headed towards the bathroom.

Upon entering and seeing the sight before her, her mouth spoke before she could think to just leave well enough alone.

"Oh God!" She bit out, disgusted.

Eyes still hazed, Tristan was suddenly aware that he and his girlfriend had some company.

"We're busy here."

_The nerve of him._

"This is a public bathroom. Commonsense says that people will come in here."

The annoyed blond rolled her eyes. "She's so oblivious."

"**Excuse me?**" _Geez... Whatever happened to peeing in peace?_

"This bathroom is usually off limits fourth period," Tristan informed.

"Says who?"

"Hello. It's an unspoken rule," the girl supplied.

"I wish someone sent me the memo," Rory muttered.

"If you'd come up for air once in a while from reading your books you'd know. Now could you leave?" The girl said, completely irritated because all this talking was cutting into her making out time.

"Gladly."

Later that day…

"Avery! Wait up!" Tristan yelled from across the hall. He jogged towards her, hopping he could catch her before she disappeared further into the sea of students headed out the Chilton doors to end yet another school day.

He threw an arm over her shoulder once he reached her and continued to walk with her.

"Listen. I need a favor."

"Name it."

"I need you to come to the mall with me."

"Reason."

"I need to get Gabrielle a present."

"Ah," Avery said knowingly. "She's lucky. She reached the two week marker." She teased.

"Cute. Now will you help me?" Tristan offered his best 'I dare you to say no to this face' smile.

"If Rory doesn't mind, she's coming over to my place. We've got a project to work on."

At the mention of Rory's name, Tristan felt the weird tingling in the pit of his stomach.

"So… are you and Rory friends now or something?" He asked casually.

"Look. I know you guys don't get along-"

"Hey. We get along."

"You haven't talked to her since the kissing incident at Madeline's party two and a half weeks ago."

"I talked to her today."

"Oh yeah."

"Circumstances were kind of weird though."

"Elaborate."

"Girl's bathroom."

"Nuff said." Avery was well aware of Tristan's escapades in the girl's bathroom. "You guys should talk about it. The two of you were making progress."

Curious, Tristan ventured to ask, "Why? Did she say something?"

"No. Not in so many words. But she did say you were growing on her."

"She said that?" Avery nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I did."

Tristan scratched his head. His mind was spinning with this new bit of information.

"No you didn't… when-… exactly did she say that?"

"Aw Tristan… do you still have a thing for the Gilmore girl?"

Tristan scoffed. "Please. I'm over her."

Avery just smiled and decided not to push the issue. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind."

"Huh?"

"Going to the mall with us..."

"Oh right." Not really registering what she had just said or for that matter what he had just said. He continued on with the subject of Rory. "Besides, I'm satisfied with just pretending it didn't happen… seems to work for her."

**END FLASHBACK**

The two had an unspoken agreement to act as if their kiss never happened. Rory wasn't ready to deal with it… or didn't _want_ to deal with it. Too much was going on. And everything was happening too fast. Her breakup with Dean was sudden and was really hard for her to get over.

Their kiss had been a mistake. It was the product of two people who had just broken up with someone they truly cared about. Heartache led people to do stupid, irrational things; at least, this was how she saw it.

Tristan on the other hand had a different opinion. He didn't see it as a mistake. It had been something he wanted to do for the longest time. He had no regrets. He even entertained the idea that there could be a next step... in the direction of a date with her. And the day after the kiss happened, he went up to her and asked her about it… Rory kindly brushed the subject off. The fact that she didn't return his feelings stung, but he gave her what she wanted and they never spoke of it again.

As a year passed, Rory's school-relationship with Avery grew into a real friendship. And also… a real friendship with Tristan bloomed naturally since Avery was a close friend of his.

Rory practically ran down the hall in the direction of the Library, her heavy back pack pounded painfully against her back. There was no time to think about the pain though. There were more important things to worry about.

"You're late Gilmore." Paris didn't even bother to look up. "Time is of the essence here. Every second counts. And you dilly dallying about wasting precious time is unacceptable."

"But Par-"

"I don't want to hear excuses. Just take a seat and get to work."

Rory rolled her eyes. She was used to this. Paris had been like this since she found out they won the President/Vice President Student body election. She missed the old Paris. The one with the shorter stick up her ass.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

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Feed my pet Review by pressing the Go button before you leave… it loves words…


	2. Chapter 2

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author:** Genevah

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

**A/N:** _To__ all the confused_ – This takes place senior year. I've added flashbacks to provide some insight from their sophomore and junior years so you guys can see how Rory and Tristan's friendship developed.

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**..…'.' ****Chilton – Friday Afternoon**** '.' …..**

Rounding the corner leading to her locker, Rory mechanically prepared herself to come face to face with the all too familiar scene that played for her many times in the course of her school day...

_Should she be paying for this? Have a tub of popcorn and a large Blue Raspberry __Icee__ handy?_

It was the same scene over and over... every day (give or take) for the past five months.

_Is this one ever going to end?_ So the thought was unkind and self-seeking, but quite frankly she was tired of it- of _this_, of seeing this display, not just once a day but numerous times a day. She'd even asked Madeline if she would switch lockers with her. Hers was down near the end of the hallway, closer to the senior parking lot and away from the raging teenage hormones of Tristan and his latest girlfriend. Madeline had kindly turned her down because apparently hers was the area where all the _cute_ guys hung out.

_Why did he insist on going out with girls that just happen to have a locker next to hers?_

In her junior year, Tristan had dated Ally and Alicia (Yes. Twins. And _Identical_ twins at that). They both had a locker on either side of hers and to her surprise he dated them at different times. It turned out he wasn't the man-slut she had originally made him out to be. Yeah right…

There was also Gabrielle (she owned the locker two down from hers). Who could forget about Gabrielle? That girl left a sour spot in Rory's stomach every time she thought of her. For some ridiculous reason, Tristan couldn't get enough of her. They had the on again/off again kind of relationship, breaking up and getting back together for weeks or months at a time. They started dating sophomore year and carried their strange relationship well into their junior year. Rory and Avery loathed the girl. She seriously must have had a borderline personality disorder or something. She was known to be a happy, energetic and pretty cool person all around, but sometimes she'd pull a 180 out of nowhere and be all irritable and irate. She'd treat him great one minute and like pure crap the next. But Tristan fell hard for her- a damn mystery. It was a wonder sometimes, how someone as cocky and impervious as Tristan could give so much of himself to one girl.

He could closely resemble her lap dog.

There was only one instance where he came out of a relationship as the vulnerable one. And that one instance was with Gabrielle. Their vicious cycle ended the summer before senior year... only because she was booked in quite a number of modeling shows in Milan with many of the top designers. Predictably, she didn't _do_ long distance relationships. Their final breakup was the hardest thing for Rory to watch. Sort of like watching him fall into a downward spiral. The boy drowned himself in partying and alcohol and meaningless sex. It was amazing how these girls could find so many different ways to _comfort_ him.

Senior year started off with Caitlin, the owner of the locker on her right. The wench cheated on him after only two months and Rory silently reveled in the momentary peacefulness. Sure she felt for him because as always he really liked the girl.

But now with Jacqueline, the owner of the locker to her left and Tristan's longest known high school relationship (without any breakups) she had to endure five agonizing months of them performing every pda known to man short of dry humping. She'd have to give him points for at least having the decency to take care of that in the girl's bathroom or the janitor's closet. At least, that's what Rory assumed they were doing in there. Then again... this was Tristan. They were probably having actual sex.

By Rory's senior year, her obliviousness to the bad and the ugly of Chilton Prep had diminished significantly. The Star's Hollow bubble that shielded her burst the first day she entered Chilton three years ago. When one hears the words 'Private School' one thinks higher learning and better education, but never the tightly guarded undisclosed activities. The kids there had money and power and lots of it and it all boiled down to one simple thing. Their namesake. It made it easier to obtain their drug of choice or use their 'get out of jail' card when caught. Money and status proved to be the answer to everything around there. And Rory wasn't immune to it anymore... she too had benefited from it.

The sound of Rory intentionally jingling her locker combination a little more than necessary caused the two love-birds... or more affectionately called... _horn-dogs_ to come up for air.

Rory briefly locked eyes with Tristan's. She could see him struggling to see her through the sensual haze of kissing Jacqueline. And somewhere floating in the back of her mind, she wondered what it would _feel_ like to _look_ like he did.

She had forgotten, not even remembering if there was even something to forget. She hadn't had a boyfriend since Dean. And that was two and a half years ago. One boyfriend. She's had one boyfriend in her seventeen years of life. _That's pretty darn pathetic... _She's done her fair share of partying, though mostly spent in the corner reading a really engaging novel, but that's beside the point. No guy ever tried talk to her. Not once had she gotten the chance to turn down a lame pick up line.

_Was there something wrong with her?_

Casually, she turned her attention back to her locker contents. So it annoyed her that they were eating each other's faces out near her locker. Okay, yeah, admittedly maybe a little jealous _she_ had no one to make out with, but she took a considerable amount of pleasure in interrupting them. It was just sheer annoyance on her part to be witnessing such pda's so damn _closely _for her comfort.

"Hey Rory."

_Now that's the sound of a bedroom voice... _she mused.

No girl could deny that he sounded downright sexy just then. She wasn't secretly in love with him or anything ridiculous like that. She just had the capability to distinguish a good bedroom voice when she heard one. A mindless talent she acquired from hanging out with her mother for seventeen years.

"Hey Tristan... Jacqueline." With the overwhelming urge to glance at them again, she saw that he still had Jacqueline pressed up against the locker… s_eriously _pressed upRory even looked down to see if her feet were actually touching the floor.

_Was this considered soft porn?_

"Oo Rory, before I forget, do you have the lab notes from Chem.?" Jacqueline asked, fiddling with the lapels of Tristan's Chilton Blazer. As she continued, Rory saw Jacqueline's blue eyes look seductively into Tristan's, "I dazed off again." Those four simple words somehow fueled him, seducing him into kissing her again.

Rory couldn't tear her eyes away... it was a _very_ steamy kiss... who couldn't _not_ stare?

Hoping they'd get a clue, Rory didn't wait for them to stop to answer Jacqueline's question. "I do, but I kind of need them for the weekend." She made a point of raising her voice an octave too.

She waited... and waited... then finally... nope... waited some more... then... _finally_...

"How about you bring it to Tristan's tomorrow? You are going right?" Jacqueline asked, seemingly licking Tristan's taste off of her lips.

Tristan took the liberty of answering for Rory, releasing his girlfriend and leaning sideways on the closest locker.

"Of course she's gonna be there." Tristan smiled at Rory. "Avery would be very disappointed if she wasn't."

"Well, bring the notes and I'll make copies of it there. I'd do it now, but I am _so_ ready to get out of here."

"Sure," Rory nodded. "I won't forget."

"Thanks. You're a sweetie." Jacqueline intertwined her hands with Tristan's pulling him to walk with her. "C'mon babe, let's get out of here."

With Tristan's free hand, he waved Rory a goodbye.

**...'.' ****DuGrey**** Mansion – Saturday Evening '.****' ...**

Avery slouched comfortably against the luscious heated walnut leather interior of Connor's Range Rover. Her gray eyes sorted through the wintry mess of snow flurries to gaze at the countless array of shiny expensive top-of-the-line vehicles that were parked before her.

Quietly, Connor observed her from his seat in the driver's side.

"Stop by to say goodbye, he says. I should've known." She angled her body to get a better view of her boyfriend of three and a half years, her eyes suspicious. "You knew about this didn't you?"

He shrugged, tenderly securing a loose lock of curl behind her ear. "Tristan saw it as a chance to throw a party. C'mon. You can't be mad at him. His intentions were good."

"I'm not mad... I'm just not in a partying mood."

"Then we'll just make an appearance. You give your short but sweet goodbyes and we're outta there. Just say the word."

"You make it sound so _un_complicated."

He smirked knowing it wouldn't be anything _but_ uncomplicated. He was the first to get out of the car having to drag Avery out soon thereafter.

When Tristan opened the double doors of his parent's mansion, he found his guest of honor and his cousin leaning against either ends of the door frame, the guest of honor glaring rather nicely at him... _just as he expected._

Avery graced him with a little push to the chest. "You dork, you threw me a party."

Tristan slipped his hands into his jean pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a _s__mall_ get-together."

"Tristan, you never throw _small_ get-togethers. You always throw these _crazy huge_ _parties_."

"Can I help it if all these people really want to say their good-byes and take-cares and... all that mess _to you_."

"See. This is the exact reason why I choose not to tell anyone when I'm leaving town."

All Tristan had to do was point a stern finger at her and she immediately regretted what she said... her hands in the surrender stance even.

She stepped into the house, prepared to get pounced. And pounced she did. Before the swarm swept her away, she threw a look of mock anger and hatred at Tristan but he took it all in stride and just smiled at her. Even as he read her lips saying 'I hate you'.

"Hey man," he greeted Connor, throwing a heavy arm over his shoulder. "Keg's out back. Good shit's in the fridge."

Connor smirked and headed to the kitchen with Tristan.

"Hey, is Rory coming?" Avery asked, appearing at his side, leaning against the bar.

Tristan took the last swig of his Corona before answering her. With his free hand he tugged on a curl of her blond hair resting against the side of her face. "Yeah, she's runnin' a little late. Something about a surprise for you," he told her with a sly glint in his eyes.

"How many of those have you had?" She asked, pointing at the now empty bottle in his hand.

He tried to look innocent, but there was no lying to her. "This is only my fourth _mom_."

She shook her head at him. "Don't think I can't lock you in your room. I've done it before and I _will_ do it again if I have to," she half-teased.

As she was saying this to him, he was already in the process of popping open another Corona, plunking a slice of lime through the mouth of the bottle, purposely wanting a reaction out of her.

He smirked, "This time make sure Jacqueline's in there with me."

She rolled her eyes, "Just don't drink yourself into a stupor. to the point where you're sleeping in your own pool of vomit. Cleaning that crap up is _really_ getting old."

"The maid'll do it."

"I'm serious Tristan. You scared the shit out of us last time... you really scared Rory-"

He raised his bottle up to her before downing a gulp of it.

"It happened once Avery. One time," stressing 'one time' by shoving one finger in her face.

"I don't care how cliché it sounds but all it takes is _one_ time."

Tristan sighed heavily, not really a conversation topic he wanted to get into right now. He was feeling too good. "This isn't an after-school special. I don't need a lecture alright. I can handle my alcohol." He reached behind the bar for a chilled bottle of Alizé and poured it into a glass. "Here. A glass of Red Passion for the one girl who truly loves me for the jerk I can't help to be." Avery smiled a sympathetic smile and willingly took the glass. It _was_ her favorite drink.

She took a delicious sip. "Apparently you can't handle your alcohol. Would you like me to paint a pretty picture for you?"

He didn't say anything, already knowing her words before she spoke them.

"You must've enjoyed having your stomach pumped in the a.m. Who would've guessed?"

He still didn't say anything, just looked beyond her at Jacqueline dancing with two other girls- each one of them sexy in their own right. _Oh how he'd love to have a threesome with them..._

"I'm serious Tristan."

"I'm serious Tristan," he repeated childishly with his ever-present smirk, looking straight into Avery's eyes, intentionally baiting her.

She punched him in the stomach and started to walk away, "I'm not flying home for your funeral," she told him, not looking back.

He ignored her, letting the alcohol take him to a fun-filled place- full of multiple orgasms and a beautiful naked _willing_ Jacqueline.

Avery took it upon herself to talk to his girlfriend. If he wasn't going to listen then maybe _she_ could knock some sense into him. Or at least look after him. The boy seriously never knows when to say when.

After searching the house with no success she proceeded to the pool house, which is where she finally found Jacqueline in mid step into the heated water.

"Hey Jackie, could I talk to you for a sec."

Jacqueline tested the water with her toes. "Feels divine. Grab your suit and get in with me."

"I really need to talk to you."

"Alright."

Avery led them to a quiet corner away from everyone else.

"Hey I need you to make sure Tristan doesn't drink so much tonight... you know with what happened last time-"

Clearly annoyed with Avery's audacity, "I already know this Avery," she bit. Friend or not, she didn't like to be told how to take care of her own boyfriend.

"Cool. I just... Well you know how he gets."

"Yeah I do. He _is_ my boyfriend... Look, I know it seemed like I wasn't there for him. But what else can I say, I can't stand hospitals."

Avery resisted in rolling her eyes at the girl.

"Okay, well I'll... that's all I wanted to say, I guess I'll see you when I get back."

Jacqueline smiled, fake written all over it. "See ya," complete with hug and all.

Avery walked away first.

_Hey she tried._

**..…'.' '.' …..**

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**A/N:** _Aww__... it's nice to hear from a few familiar reviewers __of__ my Lit __fics__, makes me feel all warm a__nd gooey inside_ _**des06,**_ _**someone, **__**sarahl**__**, smile1, **__**shouhei**____ thanks for trying this __Trory__ out..._

___**republican(**__**Sarah)**__ – The kiss still happened Sophomore year. Flashback in Ch. 1 went back to sophomore year, about two weeks after the kiss. Rory and Tristan's friendship started towards the end of sophomore year. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author:** Genevah

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

**A/N: **Thanks for reviewing. Here's another...

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**..…'.' ****DuGrey**** Mansion – Saturday Late Evening ****'.' …..**

The elegant chime sounded throughout the mansion, faintly heard in some places where music and people drowned the room. Tristan quickly surveyed the living area from where he stood for that certain wavy haired dirty-blond he was supposed to be keeping his eye on. Materializing behind her, he squeezed her shoulders, urging her in the direction of the front double doors.

"Jeeves has the night off. You need to answer this one." He quietly said into the shell of her ear, but loudly enough for her to hear over the loud music.

Rory had called him on her cell phone letting him know that she had arrived.

"You showed!" Avery squealed. "I'd give you a hug, but you've got..." noticing her birthday surprise, "you brought CAKE!" Her eyes grew big. "It's _huge_." She grabbed Tristan by the arm, pulling him away from his leisurely leaning against the thick, solid door surface and pushed him towards Rory. "Help the girl out."

He obliged, relieving her of the enormous cake.

"Sookie made it especially for you. She says to tell you 'Happy Birthday' and," Rory pulled Avery into a big Sookie hug.

"Augh, I love her." Avery hurried her in, through the hoards of people, towards the empty kitchen.

Having nearly dropped the damn cake, Tristan headed to the nearest place and set it down. The two girls followed.

He stared curiously at Rory, instantly making her a little self-conscious. "What?"

He smiled candidly. "You look like Rudolf." He alluded to her red nose.

Rory raised her fingers, brushing them across her nose once. It felt like an ice cube.

"Only you can make it sexy," he teased easily, crossing his arms, openly staring at her.

Rory rolled her eyes and began rubbing her nose to warm it and hopefully bring it back to its normal pale color.

"The heat's not working in the car again." She informed him.

His smile disappeared quickly with the mention of her car. "I told you to get rid of that heap a'shit. Why didn't you call? I would've sent Dax over with the Maybach."

Rory's eyes lit up, unable to suppress it. She loved riding in the Maybach. Hell her mom loved riding in the Maybach. It made them feel like royalty.

"It's stopped working on the ride here."

He studied her more from head to toe and he laughed slightly.

Her blue eyes all doey and cute looked into his again. "What now?" She questioned only semi-annoyed.

He swiftly removed her light blue scully that adorned her head, static making strands of her hair stand upright.

"Hey!" Rory protested, smoothing her hair down with one of her hands.

He tossed it onto the seat of a nearby chair then took hold of her shoulders, turning her around so her back was to him. His hands wrapped around to the front of her, to the edges of the lapels of her coat, skillfully helping her take it off.

"It's so warm in here and you've got what... twenty layers of clothes on? I'm about to keel over just looking at you." He hung her coat on the back of the same chair where her scully sat, then immediately went back to undressing her. "Scarf," he ordered, already tugging on the mulit-colored fringes.

In the background, Avery could be seen grinning wistfully at the two and she couldn't resist the words that escaped her mouth. "Careful Rory, the boy's gettin' a hard-on," she teased, licking icing off her finger.

Tristan abruptly turned around, with Rory's scarf securely in his hand he playfully smacked Avery's thigh with it.

She laughed at him, fully amused that he actually blushed from the comment.

"Hey, you're blushing!" Avery pointed, wanting to embarrass the kid because that was hardly ever possible. She looked over at Rory who not surprisingly was blushing too. "In all the years I've known this guy, I don't think I've ever seen him blush."

Tristan laughed at her absurdity. "I'm not blushing."

"You are DuGrey." Avery insisted.

"If I am it's from the alcohol."

"If you say so."

"Plates?" Rory asked him, wanting a change of subject, this time noticing the red tint to the white of his eyes.

"I'll get it."

When he came back from searching through the rich dark cherry cabinets he handed her the plates and forks.

"How many?" She asked, fixing him a defiant stare.

"She's rubbing off on you," Tristan pointed at Avery. "One of _her_ is enough."

"How many Tristan?" Rory pressed again. She had been through this so many times with him.

He sighed bored, and wiggled four fingers in her face, then smashing his whole hand over her face, making her push him away.

She turned to Avery, "Is it just me or is he more annoying when he's intoxicated?"

"I heard that. And I'm not- _intoxicated_... _yet_ anyways."

Rory sliced him a piece and shoved it in his hands. "Here. Eat. Something needs to soak up all that alcohol."

He threw an arm over her shoulder and leaned with her against the huge marble kitchen island, "Admit it. You care about me?"

"No. I care about myself," she lied. "Throw up is not as appealing to me as it seems to be to you."

Of course she cared about him. More than she needed to. Hell, more than she wanted to. With this past year alone, she had been there with him, through every hard time he went through and there were so many in his life that she couldn't help but _want_ to care for him.

Jacqueline entered the kitchen, completely clothed now from her soak in the heated pool.

"Hey. There's talk of cake out there."

Tristan waved his plate of the chocolaty goodness in front of her, making her squeal and smile attractively. He let her take it from him.

"That- was yours." Rory told him, nudging him in his side. She had cut him a pretty generous piece.

"Don't want any," he whispered warmly in her ear.

In exchange for the cake, Jacqueline handed him a large glass of some type of alcohol.

"What's this?"

"Incredible Hulk," she said deliciously, or so he thought anyways.

It was a pretty drink when made. Electric blue vodka mixed with pineapple juice and the result: A green drink that'll fuck you up nicely.

Tristan let go of Rory, pushing himself off the table and encircled his girlfriend to him, his free hand retrieved the drink. "See," he started, staring at Avery and then Rory, "this girl loves me."

The brunette giggled sexily, raising her plate of cake high in the air, enticing him with a brush of her chest against his and laid a wet open-mouthed kiss on his lips to which he savored like a hungry little boy. Blindly he reached for her plate and sloppily set it down on the counter, a loose raspberry rolling across the table. With his lips still glued to hers and alcohol in hand, he led her to the stairs only a couple feet away.

Rory and Avery could faintly hear Jacqueline mutter something about the cake which made Tristan hastily grab it and take it with them.

The two stood watching and eating their cake, grinning at the other.

**...'.' ****DuGrey**** Pool House – Much, Much Later '.****' ...**

"Huh."

Rory looked up from her novel curious to see what Avery was huh-ing about. "What?"

Avery's gaze carried Rory to the other end of the heated pool. To Jacqueline.

"Jackie looks pretty satisfied."

Rory made a small disgusted face.

As the party dwindled down _a little_ (there was still a lot of people), Rory felt an overwhelming urge to check on Tristan. She figured now would be as good a time as any. Jacqueline had been hanging out on the other side of the heated pool for a good thirty minutes now.

She closed her novel and set it down next to Avery.

"I'll be right back."

Avery nodded then continued her conversation with Connor.

Rory lifted her legs out of the warm pool and quickly towel dried them. She adjusted her sarong covering her bikini bottom and headed into the mansion.

She knocked on his bedroom door twice and opened it when there was no answer. Needless to say, the bed had indeed been _slept_ in... and as she went further into the room she made an educated guess that Jacqueline must not be wearing any underwear because she had just stepped on it.

_Gross!_ _Why did she bother coming up here again?_

Her eyes couldn't help but roam around and in roaming they landed on something on his desk.

_Oh God..._

There on the desk for anyone like her to walk in and see were two used condoms.

_Why does she subject herself to this?_ She doesn't want to see these things, accidentally step on his girlfriend's soaked undies or see his nasty used condoms. She wanted to go back in the heated pool and wash everything away... and she would have too if she didn't see him in the bathroom.

"Tristan?" Carefully, she walked towards the bathroom door and peeked in. He was on the floor with his back up against the wall near the toilet.

"Oh boy." Rory muttered under her breath. "You okay there Tristan?" She asked stepping inside.

His eyes were closed. "Can you get me some water?"

Rory nodded thoughtfully, "Sure." She took an empty glass and held it under the running faucet. There were a couple empty liquor bottles and two shot glasses on his bathroom counter. "I see you and Jacqueline formed your own little sub party."

"She wanted to do body shots... Well, she wanted _me_ to do body shots on her and who am I to deny... with tits like-"

"-Ookay, I think that was a little bit more than I was hoping for there buddy."

He smirked. He didn't usually get that animated around Rory. Now that he had respect for her and their friendship. To his surprise and hers, he had actually tamed that kind of talk around her.

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted." She knew he meant it. "Did she have anything to drink? She clearly does not look as wasted as you do."

He glared at her. "Thanks for the complement. She had a shot of something fruity. Not much of a drinker."

"Yet she loves seeing _you_ drunk. Nice."

Suddenly he hoisted himself over the toilet and started to heav.

Rory tried to keep her disgusted look to a minimum and walked over to him. She held her breath and sat down next to him, smoothing his back. A gesture she knows all too well to help soothe him. He once told her that it actually helped a little. He was drunk of course and he doesn't remember saying that to her, but since then she did it every time.

Tristan caught sight of the face she was making after he flushed the toilet. He chuckled. "You don't have to be here Rory. I can handle this. You're relieved of your Tristan-duty tonight."

Rory shook her head. "No- I'm fine... I... love- the smell and sight of your puke," she swore, lying through her teeth.

Tristan couldn't help but smile at her as he rested on the cold tiled floor.

"Up-up-up." Rory pulled him back to a sitting position. It ended up with him shoulder to shoulder with her and him resting his head against hers.She pulled the cup of water up to his mouth. "Drink." He obeyed and drank till it was empty. "Good boy," Rory praised, patting him on his thick head of hair.

"Nice bikini." He complemented, eyes closed, already having memorized how she looked in it and stilled it in his mind. She was a beautiful girl and there's no ignoring it. "Haven't seen this one. Is it new?"

"Uh yeah, fairly new." Suddenly, she felt weird being with him like this. Sure Tristan's seen her in a bikini numerous times, but for some reason she felt bare... maybe it was the close proximity to him.

"Looks good on you," he quietly mumbled.

They sat like that for about twenty minutes when Tristan abruptly stood up and unzipped his pants, stood before the toilet and started to pee.

Rory simply turned her head, amused when she caught a flash of his bare gluts, though a blush of pure innocence that is Rory still crept across her cheeks.

He peaked at her to gauge her reaction to him deliberately mooning her.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" He eyed her.

There was a quick roll of her eyes. "I think I'm blinded from how white it is." His ass was anything _but_ white. Rather nicely _tanned_. Not too golden and not too white- _wait_, she caught herself, she's contemplated his butt way too long.

Tristan peed and peed and peed some more and she couldn't help herself when she said, "God you're like those fountain statue boys. Enough with it already!"

He glanced behind him again and saw her turned away with her nose pinched shut.

He stopped on her command and curious she looked up to see a suspicious smirk on his face.

Then he started to pee again... _longer_ this time.

She rolled her eyes and looked away again. "Funny. Reeal funny. I'll have to share this with your kids one day."

Tristan flushed the toilet and actually washed his hands. He then stumbled out of the bathroom and dropped himself on his bed. Face down and groaned.

"Feel like crap?" Rory mocked sounding sympathetic. He deserved it. She sat down next to him with her back leaning against the headboard.

"Where's Jacqueline?"

"Um, last I saw, she was out by the pool."

"Do me a favor?"

"Yeah."

"Tell her I want her to stay the night."

Rory nodded and motioned to stand but he yanked on her sarong prevented her from leaving her place on the bed. "You don't have to tell her right this minute Ror. Stay with me."

She smiled thoughtfully at him. "Okay. But it's freezing in here, mind if I snoop around for some sweats."

"Have at it."

She came back fully dressed in a clean set of his sweats. Crouching in his bed, she settled into lying next to him, pulling the covers that were previously on the floor over her and him.

Sometime later, Avery came in.

"Is he out?"

"He's... in... and out." Rory informed.

"Dumb boy." Avery said very affectionately of course.

She smiled. "Well I'm about to go, my flight leaves in a of couple hours and I'm still not finished packing."

"Alright." Rory stood up and hugged her. "Have a safe trip."

Avery walked over to Tristan and sat down next to him, leaning into him whispering something. He heard her, but what she said will only be remembered in his drunken state. His arm snaked around her waist and he hugged her with the best of his drunken-ability lying down. "Later Avery," he mumbled, "call."

She stood up and hooked arms with Rory. "Walk me down?"

After Avery and Rory finished their goodbyes, Rory turned to go back into the mansion, but she stopped when she heard the chirp of someone disarming their vehicle. Her eyes fell on Jacqueline and Duncan walking to his car.

"Jacqueline!"

Duncan waited inside the car and Jacqueline went over to where Rory stood.

"Hey."

"Where are you going?"

"He's giving me a ride home, Tristan's too wasted."

"He asked me to tell you that he wanted you to stay the night."

She had the decency to look torn. "I can't, cleaning throw-up is just not my thing you know that."

_But you made him this drunk!_ She wanted to scream at her. She was sick of this. She's supposed to be cleaning his crap up. Not her!

"Don't look so worried. He's a big boy. He'll be alright, it's not like he's never been drunk before."

"I know... it's just-"

"I'll check on him in the morning."

"What should I tell him, if he asks?"

"Tell him... tell him that you missed me." Duncan honked his horn. "I gotta go Rory."

"Great," Rory muttered to herself.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

_…_

_…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author:** Genevah

**Rating:** R – Just a pre-cautionary measure.

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

**A/N: **Wow. I hardly ever update this regularly on a fic. I'm surprising myself. :D

…

…

**..…'.' ****DuGrey**** Mansion '.' …..**

Sometime in the middle of the night, Tristan came out of his drunken sleep shivering and with an overwhelming need to relieve himself, though any sort of physical movement like him getting out of bed was looking very unappealing in his particular state. Even if it _was_ nature calling.

Lazily, he mused it'd go away if he fell asleep again.

His hand ventured to the space next to him in a meager attempt to remedy his other need. It searched for that certain warmth only a beautiful female body could provide. Disappointingly, his hand only met the coldness of his 1000-thread count sheets. He sat up, a little unsteadily at first and sought out the next best thing- his imported mink blanket.

It was nowhere to be found within an arm's length so he abandoned the idea of searching for it altogether.

The harsh light from the bathroom had snuck into his bedroom. He just noticed it, annoying him further. Dragging himself out of bed, muttering obscenities, he painstakingly walked to the bathroom to kill off the two things that were preventing him from having a good drunken night's sleep: To use the bathroom and to turn off the goddamn light.

On his way back to his oversized bed, he heard a delicate sleepy whimper. And rather intrigued, he switched the light on his desk to see what exquisite creature had made that lovely sound. There on his sofa, was a clump of mink, shifting around and in an instant, he gravitated towards it and tugged the covers to reveal her identity.

_Well, well, well… Rory Gilmore…_

Without a second thought he turned the lamp off, slid under the heavy mink and snuggled against her. She was nice and warm and _exactly_ what he was yearning for.

…

The early-afternoon light shone through Tristan's sheer curtains though not disturbing him since he anticipated it somehow and hid under the safety of the thick blanket.

An hour later, there was the faint sound of his doorknob turning and the door opening. Not too soon after, it closed noiselessly. The padding of feet crossing over the white luxuriously carpet followed. The faint smell of coffee stretched to invade the room though not fully succeeding given the enormity of Tristan's bedroom. The visitor saw the empty bed and straight away thought he fell asleep on the floor somewhere until the sight of his dangling sock-covered feet entered her field of vision. At least he made it to the sofa. It was just as comfortable as his bed.

A dainty hand reached out towards him and took a good hold of the rich navy-colored mink, creeping it down expecting to see a wasted but oh-so-gorgeous Tristan. Only this person wasn't Tristan it was _Rory_. Suspicious blond struts of hair caught her eye, urging her to pull the mink the rest of the way down. And just as she suspected, the sole owner of those one-of-kind blond locks were indeed Tristan's, his head resting comfortably on Rory's elbow looking quite limbless with his arms tucked inside his gray t-shirt.

"How cozy," the visitor quietly said to herself, her mouth set in a tight line obviously dissatisfied with the sight.

Tristan stirred, the light pressing against his lids, aggravating his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting around to no place in particular until he saw Jacqueline staring at him with that certain look on her face that she reserved for when she was upset with him.

_How could she possibly be mad at him? He just fucking woke up._

"Hey beautiful," he said hoarsely, but completely smooth because he is so completely Tristan. "What happened to you last night?" He slipped his arms through the shirt sleeve holes and reached out, running his knuckles up and down the side of her jean covered thigh.

"What do you mean?" She questioned innocently.

"Didn't Rory tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That I wanted you to stay the night."

"Oh. I must've left before she could find me." Her eyes looked above his head at Rory. "But it looks like she took excellent care of you, seeing as though she is such a good little girl _friend_."

Jacqueline placed the soon to be forgotten coffee on a nearby table and grabbed his hand yanking him away from Rory, telling him he needed to take a shower.

Ten minutes later, Rory was awakened by the sounds of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' accompanied by a series of 'fasters' and 'harders' in between- the sound of the shower not even remotely close to drowning them out.

"Augh," she muttered to herself, a facial expression of pure disgust painted her morning features. He was _so_ going to owe her for this.

Rory left with the untouched coffee. Pay back for having to hear them. Tristan didn't deserve his sweats back either. She decided she'd keep them for _all_ her trouble. Besides, they were _very_ comfortable, _unbelievably_ comfortable.

She found the rest of her clothing lying neatly next to her purse on the living room reading table. The place was remarkably clean, not a trace to the party last night. The maids must've tidied up early this morning. Last she saw, the place was in complete disarray.

…

**..…'.' Gilmore Home '.' …..**

Later in the day, Rory received a call from Tristan. His name appeared on the blue-lit screen of her cell phone, the tiny telephone icon jingling animatedly at her. She couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to answer it.

Of course she gave in… as usual.

"Hello."

"I'm sorry," he told her, a hundred and ten percent sincere.

She couldn't help but smile. "I hope you realize that no amount of ear-draining will rid me of what I had to wake up to this morning. My poor ears are ringing from the two of you. I'm very close to having to admit myself to the insane asylum thank you very much."

"That loud huh?" Tristan's face showed a slight hint of shame. "Let me make it up to you. What are your plans for tonight?"

"Oh you're going to need more than one night to make this up. I'm thinking the rest of your life bucko."

He laughed. "I agree- the rest of my life. So for starters, let me take you out to eat. You can't say no to that. I know how much you love food."

Rory sighed. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm devoting the rest of today to homework. I've been procrastinating so much lately it's not even funny… I need to catch up."

"Fine. But I owe you."

"Don't you always," she said light-heartedly.

He chuckled a little. It was true. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

By seven o'clock in the evening, she surprised herself having finished her Lit paper. But Physics awaited her. However, before attempting Physics, she needed to fulfill a taste for something sweet and cold so she went to the freezer and retrieved an almost empty pint of Ben and Jerry's Karamel Sutra ice-cream when the doorbell rang.

With her taste buds first on the list, she uncovered the pint, grabbed a spoon and dug in for a bite on her way to the front door.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked him, her mouth full of ice-cream.

Tristan grabbed the pint and spoon from her, trading them for the bag he had in his hand, already inviting himself inside her house.

He gazed over the carton reading the flavor of the ice-cream and his infamous smirk appeared.

"Having fun all by yourself Rory?" He teased. He then hungrily stabbed the ice-cream with the spoon, scooping up a big clomp of it and stuffed it into his mouth. Meanwhile Rory peeked into the brown paper bag, already sensing what it was by the smell alone.

"And this is me ignoring that comment."

She stuck her nose in the bag and inhaled some more. "Mmm… Beef Pad Thai. Goes perfectly with Karamel Sutra."

"You are one sick _froward_ young lady… I like that in you."

"_Froward?_ I'm amazed. After all these years of knowing you, I think you've finally impressed me for the first time Tristan."

Clearly offended by her little remark, he gave her the evil-eye. "That really hurt the ego Lorelai."

She giggled at how serious he looked. "Roll with the punches." She playfully slapped him hard on the back sending him on a fit of coughs from swallowing ice-cream down the wrong tube. "Makes you stronger," she advised, cheesing widely at him.

He cleared his throat, his eyes playfully glaring at her. "You know what? I take back my apology. And I hope you never get rid of the sound of me _pleasuring_ Jacqueline."

Rory's eyes grew wide in shock and quickly dropped the bag onto the coffee table and covered her ears.

"You are disgusting and I will no longer admit that I'm actually friends with you!"

Fully amused at her, he pulled her arms down.

"Ooo, another Gilmore jab to the ego. That's two in a row Rory. I may be scarred for life."

"Good."

He settled comfortably on the couch, resuming the act of eating her ice cream. Rory sat down next to him, eating her food right out of the takeout box.

She looked over at Tristan, watching him eat spoonful after spoonful of _her_ ice-cream.

"What do you think you're doing?" She questioned, her voice feigning grave seriousness.

He didn't bother to look at her and continued to eat the ice-cream. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Don't you dare finish that," she ordered.

"Why Rory, is that any way to treat your guest."

"You are not a guest. And if you were, guests in this house do not compete with Ben and Jerry's. I thought you were aware of that. Get used to it or don't come over," she half-joked.

Tristan showed her the inside of the pint and smiled at her. "There's only one spoonful left."

Rory set her food down on the table and darted for the ice-cream, but he raised it up over his head and dodged her.

"Ah-ah-ah. I _want_ this last bite Rory," he said quite seductively with a smirk aimed to touch her insides if she'd only allow it.

The girl never fell for it.

"Tristan! I only had one bite of that before you invaded my house. I was expecting to have more and I _will_ have more."

"Not to worry, I've come up with a solution."

Rory crossed her arms and settled into the couch pillows, looking put-out. "I'm not intrigued."

"We split it."

"But that's-"

"Fair," he completed.

He lowered the pint of ice-cream, mindful of her position so he'd be ready if she pounced. He sliced the spoon through the last bit, halving it semi-equally. Rory slowly hovered over him, watching him closely as he spooned the smaller piece and offered to feed it to her.

"Oh please! That's _your_ piece."

"You sure about that? Look closely… this one has the more caramel and fudge chips." He held the spoon up to her eyes which were incidentally only inches away from his own. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered being this close to her three years ago. And her eyes… _god, those damn eyes_… they were still as enticing as ever.

They both stared at the lone spoon between them as Rory contemplated for a moment.

_No contest._

"Fine."

When she opened what Tristan previously thought was her refined little mouth, he thought he was going to pass out before he even put the spoon _in_ her mouth. His eyes widened and he felt his own mouth slightly open against his will and his heart nearly dropped down into his favorite body part. He could literally feel it beating there.

He'll admit that Rory opening her mouth like she just did was an incredible turn-on. He watched agonizingly as she took the spoon into her mouth, her lips covering the whole of it. He swore he could feel pre-cum wetting the tip of him.

Yes. This girl was _that_ good.

She released the spoon with a silly pop and she smiled brightly like a four-year old kid making him banish all his dirty thoughts away.

"I want more," she whined.

He smiled goofily, mostly at himself. He was one sex-crazed son-of-a-bitch.

"We had an agreement. This one's mine."

"How about we forego the agreement and you let me have that last spoonful," she helplessly bargained.

He pretended to think about it. "How about… _no_."

"You could always go to Doose's and get more," she suggested.

"Need I remind you that I'm your guest and _you_ should be the one going to Doose's to get the ice-cream?"

She sighed heavily, "You're useless."

"And you're a tease," he slipped.

Her forehead crinkled. "What?" She asked, confused as to where that came from.

"_You_, Rory are a tease. You let me eat your ice cream and you won't even let me finish it all," he covered.

She smiled again. "Number one. You _stole_ _my_ ice cream. And number two. It's _my_ ice cream."

He purposely dug into the pint again and scooped up the last spoonful. He looked at her, teasing her back by pretending like he was actually going to be a gentleman and let her have the last of it. He watched Rory's face fall when he detoured the spoon that was headed her way to his mouth instead.

He sucked the spoon dry of ice-cream… _and_ Rory.

_Fucking __**De**__licious._

**..…'.' '.' …..**

…

…


	5. Chapter 5

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author**: Genevah

**Rating:** M – just a pre-cautionary measure

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

…

…

**..…'.' Gilmore Home – Monday Morning '.' …..**

"Four. Three. Two. One-" Rory counted down as she stood at the bottom of the staircase, staring up in the direction of her mother's room. Just as she anticipated, her mother appeared in a rush, scuttling down the stairs with papers, most likely important ones, stuffed in her mouth as she tackled to clasp the simple diamond necklace around her neck.

When her mother reached her, she kindly released the papers from out of her mouth.

"I'm late." Lorelai whined as she successfully locked her necklace.

She handed the papers back to her mother. "Next time spring for a Hello Kitty alarm clock that plugs into the wall, batteries _do_ have a tendency to die you know." Rory held out a bagged breakfast consisting of a single package of Smore's Pop tarts and a soda can. "Here's some nourishment to get you through the morning."

Lorelei gleamed at her daughter. "You're so good to me." She took the aforementioned bagged breakfast from her, jiggled it then looked at Rory strangely. "Sweetie pie, there's coffee in here for mommy right?" She asked with a now stiff smile.

"We're out," Rory said simply.

Her mother gasped dramatically, a hand flying to her chest, covering her heart, on the verge of panic. "Out of coffee? Huh… how is that possible? We're never out. Did you check the emergency stash-"

"-under the sink? - Yes."

"How about on top-"

"-of the fridge? - Yes."

"And inside the-"

"-My Little Pony lunch box in the stove behind your emergency stash of mallowmars? - Yes."

"Hmph."

"We've used up every single emergency stash of coffee in this house."

"Are you positive?"

"Yep."

"We really need to remember to replenish our emergency stashes otherwise what good are they to be called _emergency_ stashes…buut on the flip side-" Lorelai grinned big, "You know what this means, right? Luke's!!"

"Oh boy," Rory sighed, fully aware of what her mother was going to say. "I thought you were late," she reminded.

Lorelai shrugged. "All the more reason to, I'll be late anyways."

"You just want to see your boyfriend." Rory said in a sing-song voice and turned away towards her bedroom to finish getting ready for school, turning up the volume on her cd player.

"Yeah, that too!" Lorelai agreed. "Learn good!" She yelled over Rory's music. She put her coat on, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door.

"Ooh! Oh my God," Lorelai jumped at the sight of the two young males standing outside her door, one of them in mid-stance of knocking on her face. "You scared the crap out of me!" She pushed Tristan on the chest with her fingers, showing him just how much she did not appreciate that. "Now I haveta run upstairs and change my-… uh nevermind." She caught herself. Teenage boys do not need to hear about her panties even if it were just a quip. "What are you two doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be at your own homes getting ready for school?"

"We thought Rory could use a ride to school today." Tristan gauged the confused look on her face. "Being that her car has no warming capabilities." Tristan informed.

Lorelai genuinely smiled, tilting her head. Her daughter had surrounded herself among some worthwhile friends at that big stuffy school of hers.

"Aw, that's awfully sweet of you guys. You make me feel like such a bad mother letting her drive to school in that heap." Lorelai suddenly felt the guilt settle in. She had been too busy with the opening of the new Inn coming soon, trying to have everything perfect and in all the commotion she had neglected her daughter's well-being.

Rory had told Tristan about her mother's dream of opening her own Inn finally coming true after the obstacles that just wouldn't get out of her way. She also mentioned that she missed her mother and she hadn't spent some quality time with her in the process.

"I've been a lousy mother," she said mostly to herself.

"Hey don't worry about it. It's all taken care of. I'm having my mechanic come over sometime this week to have a look at it. And until then, I'll be her chauffer." With an easy gesture like the simple shrug of his shoulder, letting her know that it was a short-lived problem and was taken care of, he instantaneously calmed Rory's mother.

Chivalry was something he had learned and taken into good use when the opportunity presented itself. However, when it came to Rory, he could only be so dense as to not realize how fast and more importantly how high he'd jump for her when she was even in the slightest bit in need of something.

Yes… he could be so dense. He would do anything for her… and it was unfortunate that neither of them were aware of this reality.

Lorelai closed her eyes in great appreciation, and then looked back into Tristan's. "Thank you. You are such a good friend to her and you are welcome in this house whether Rory likes it or not."

Tristan smirked. "I'll make sure she knows that."

Lorelai's thoughtful smile quickly turned upside down as she suddenly remembered what time it was. "Crap! Now I'm later than late!" She squeezed through the two boys and ran down the steps almost tripping, "Make yourselves at home boys!"

The two exchanged a look that said they intended on making themselves at home before walking inside the house. Connor graciously accepted the invitation and plopped himself on the Gilmore's couch trying to grab a couple more minutes of much needed shut-eye. Tristan on the other hand went in search for Rory, which was not a hard feat to accomplish because all he had to do was follow the tunes of The Cardigans like breadcrumbs all the way to her bedroom. He needed to find something out. He needed to know why she betrayed him…

He found her bent over, her skirt-covered butt facing him while she slid a pair of gray tights up her right leg. Funny how his appendage had a mind of its own sometimes. It had been a long time since the scene of simply seeing a girl bent over in front of him got him a little excited… well, clothed anyhow.

_It confused the hell out of him. _

He pretended to clear his throat to get her attention. The new angle begged for a sex-laced innuendo, though he quickly decided against it for his own good, there were too many accessible objects around that she could easily throw at him.

Caught completely by surprise, Rory struggled to balance herself on one leg when she turned to look at her intruder. And in the struggle, she lost, falling rather unladylike to the floor, her skirt betraying her, showing him a rather nice glimpse of her pretty new underwear.

Curiosity got the best of him. It was merely the male thing to do. Tristan had no choice but to drink it in. And boy did he drink it _all_ in. Even in her awkward position, she still managed to look so goddamn sexy. And he couldn't help but think that he'd have to shake the hand of the next son of a bitch that assumes the title 'Rory's boyfriend'.

_God her legs, her thighs, her-…_ He stopped breathing momentarily, slowly bringing his fingers to his lips to shield the small o that formed on his lips. In that one instant he had never seen so much of Rory Gilmore in his entire life of knowing her. He'd admit he'd fantasized about her many moons ago, but that would never come close to seeing her like this so up close and _personal_.

He never pegged Rory to be the type that wore string bikini underwear… and to school no less.

Seeing his eyes slowly take her in made her feel a strange sense of sensuality she's never felt before and for a second, _a very quick second _mind you, she enjoyed it… to be desired in such a way. But when she finally came to her senses, she slapped herself mentally, and soon became embarrassed. Had she gone mad? Here she was legs wide open, like some kind of a horrible cheap strip tease and she actually _took pleasure _in giving _him_ the show. She hastily closed her legs and pulled her skirt down. Her grandmother would have been so disappointed in her.

Tristan forced a laugh, only because he felt the need to make the situation less embarrassing for her, because let's face it, he hardly ever got embarrassed. The blush on her cheeks couldn't hide her humiliation no matter how hard she tried.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't see anything." How he managed a straight face stemmed from perfecting the act of lying.

"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't." She tucked her hair behind her ear, looking up at him, still sitting on the floor.

"I didn't." He lied again, only this time he allowed a smirk to appear on his well-groomed face and crushed what little faith she had in believing that he might actually be telling her the truth.

She glared at him and his smirk turned into a rather apologetic grin.

"Don't say a word." She half-begged, half-warned him.

"Just one thing please." He pleaded back, his colorful smirk back in full force.

"Tristan." She wholly warned this time. He was reverting back to that stupid boy she met her first day at Chilton.

He _had_ to ask her. He _had_ to know.

He looked at her with the most inquisitive eyes, one brow cocked, "You shave Mary?"

There was way too much delight in his voice, Rory thought.

The look of shock on her ever-angelic face was priceless but he seriously couldn't help himself. He was a being a total prick and he knew this, but _Rory_, his good ol' buddy _Rory_ shaved her _pussy_. And knowing this tiny undisclosed fact was like revealing one of the biggest mysteries of the world, to him at least.

Rory picked up a saddle shoe that was sitting an arm's length away and flung it hard in his direction, but the bastard caught it with such ease.

She buried her face in her hands, moaning that her life really sucked right now.

"Could you be any more of a jerk?" She kicked off her tights, deciding against wearing them at all today. _Stupid tights._ Other than Tristan, the tights also held blame. One dressed her leg up to her knee and the other at her ankle. The uneven-ness caused her to lose her balance.

He held up his hands in request for forgiveness, walking closer to her, chuckling a little. "I'm sorry. It's in my nature. Avery's still in the process of completely de-programming me."

He moved to help her up, offering her his hand and when she stood, he didn't let go of her.

He leaned in. And she felt her eyes close suddenly at the feel of his breath tickling her ear.

"Look-," he paused, making sure of himself, "just so you know-," he never felt his heart pound so forcefully against his chest, "-so hot Rory." He told her carefully. On the contrary though, he was being very careless with their friendship. It was most certainly a ballsy move on his part.

Yes he knew what he saying, completely aware that it was completely against the rules of their friendship. But at that moment, when he saw that look in her eyes when she caught him so engrossed by every inch that was meant to be left to the imagination, he thought it would be something _she_ might like hear.

Well anyhow, it was something _he_ liked to tell her.

Rory Gilmore's innocence and purity and inexperience were too damn sexy for _his_ own good.

And so he said it.

And now it was out there… hanging in the air between them.

It surprised him when she didn't proceed to pound him mercilessly with her other saddle shoe or jerk away and scream at him that she never wanted to speak to him again.

In all honesty, she didn't know how to react to that. Her own body betrayed her, absorbing the words he had spoken and letting it linger in a place she knew existed, but had never awakened... until now.

_How is that possible?_

She was quiet for a long moment, baffled. _How in the world is Tristan, her friend, her buddy, her pal, making her feel like this? _It felt wrong on so many levels.

So she came to the conclusion that she must be in some sick, dire need to be in a relationship. She was having the relationship-blues. Who could blame her? It was all around her. Love and sex was in the air. Invading and consuming her thoughts when they weren't concentrating on school assignments and life in general.

She missed the little things. The handholding, the flirting, the kissing. The conversations that boyfriends and girlfriends share. She felt pathetic now. _Was she really that in need of a boyfriend?_ She had more important things she should be focusing on right now. She had to focus on Harvard…

That was her excuse at least.

She then finally released herself from his light grasp and did what she did best and ignored what he had so explicitly declared to her and the way her body reacted when he did.

"I seriously think I injured my butt." She walked over to her mirror and picked up her brush, running it down her hair. "Have you ever heard of knocking?" she asked him, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

He'd let her play this game. Act like nothing had happened. In her world, he never said anything to her. Whatever worked for her was fine with him.

_Really it was…_

"You really think that would've changed the outcome?" He teased, going along with her. "Besides your door was wide open."

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"We." He corrected. "Connor's becoming one with your couch as we speak. We're driving you to school."

"In case you've forgotten, I have four wheels of my own and I'm highly capable of making it to school without your escort services."

"Face it Rory, your car is a piece of shit and you'll freeze into a Rory Popsicle by the time you get to school. And I'd have no choice but to su-"

Yep, the old Tristan was in full effect today.

"Don't even think about completing that thought out loud Tristan," she warned.

"So… did you just give me permission to complete that thought in my mind?" He smirked at her. He was being playful with her and they both knew she wouldn't take it to offense.

She folded her arms, holding in a smile. "What's gotten into you? You haven't been this infuriating and crass in years and all of a sudden out of nowhere you're… _you_ again."

He sighed. "Yea that made sense."

"You know exactly what I mean."

"So you riding or what?"

"My car is fine, the heater works… sometimes, it just needs more time to… warm up." She explained, wanting to give him a hard time, just for the hell of it. In the end, of course she'd prefer warmth over Antarctica.

"Suit yourself." Tristan wasn't in the mood to talk some sense into her, normally he would've thrown her over his shoulder and tossed her in the car, but instead he walked out of her bedroom prepared to leave her stubborn ass to take the bus. He had other things on his mind. Like the tiny bit of information he heard about Jacqueline leaving the party with Duncan the other night and Rory knew about it but didn't tell him. He couldn't believe it slipped his mind to call her on it just because he got distracted by seeing a small glimpse of her hidden treasures.

His sudden change in mood puzzled her.

"Okay, okay," she quickly threw her backpack over her shoulder and shut off her cd player before following after him. "I give in. You can take me to school!"

**...'.' Chilton '.****' ...**

The car ride to Chilton was strangely quiet. Rory sensed something was off with Tristan, but she waited till Connor was out of the car to ask him about it.

She unlatched her seatbelt and turned towards Tristan, pressing the release button on his seatbelt as well.

"Okay. What is it? You were unusually mute on the car ride here, a definite cause for concern… spill please."

He stared out his window into the sea of uniform dressed students disappearing inside the stone walls of Chilton. "Did you know that Jacqueline left with Duncan the other night?" He asked, still not looking at her.

That was the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth.

"Um… yeah I did," she admitted, scratching the back of her neck, the feeling of guilt taking over her.

"And you didn't tell me this because-?"

"It must've slipped my mind."

He finally looked at her, not believing her. "You're the worst liar Rory."

"You were drunk Tristan. And your girlfriend just left with another guy. You and I both know exactly how things would've gone down if I told you."

He was silent. She had a point there. There was no telling what he would do with alcohol pumping through his veins.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. He just drove her home. I'm sure nothing happened. Don't go working yourself up for nothing." Mindlessly, she reached out to him, softly running her hand down his arm once.

"She fucked him."

Rory blinked, stunned at how harsh he sounded. "How do you know that?"

He shook his head and sighed, a sad smile on his face. "You're still naïve Rory." He got out of the car, clearly frustrated with everything.

Rory watched him until he too disappear into the building.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

…

…


	6. Chapter 6

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author**: Genevah

**Rating:** M – just a pre-cautionary measure

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

…

…

**..…'.' Chilton '.' …..**

Rory walked down the stuffy halls of Chilton as she hugged her school books close to her chest.

She never thought her high school life would seep into her personal life. Chilton was supposed to only serve one very important purpose: to help her get into Harvard. But that objective had long ago been bumped down her list.

Making friends at Chilton was not a priority for her. She was content with her mom and her friends in Stars Hollow and she always felt like she didn't need to make any new ones at Chilton. But she found true friendship with Avery and Tristan. They had become so close that she would hold them as dearly as she would Lane.

_Rory smiled to herself._

Never in a million years did she think that when she walked through the Chilton doors for the first time she would befriend the boy who in so many words offered to help her _study_.

Tristan's charm didn't penetrate her and when he finally realized that she began to see a different side to him. Sure he was a playboy when he didn't have a girlfriend. He couldn't help it. With looks like he had, there was no other choice. However, when he did have a girlfriend he assumed the doting boyfriend role quite willingly. He was quite the catch, she'd admit. He played the role of boyfriend as best he could and any girl would be so lucky to be treated like she was the center of his world.

Save for the moment said girl crushed him… the playboy would emerge in full force and his girlfriend be damned…

Rory grew tired of seeing him trust every girl he dated with his heart because it seemed like every last one of them loved to squeeze the life out of it. She hadn't expected Jacqueline to be one of them and somewhere deep inside she thought that she was different from the other girls he's dated… at least she hoped she was because Tristan deserved so much better.

"Rory, wait up."

_Speak of the devil…_

Rory turned to see Jacqueline walking along side her. Rory had been waiting for this moment since this morning after hearing what Tristan told her. She thought of what she would say to her and how she would react around her… _the_ _cheating whore_.

"Have you seen Tristan, I haven't seen him all day."

She had never felt so pumped with adrenaline. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and before she could think of a more civil way to ask she blurted out the very thing she wanted to know.

"Did you cheat on him?"

"Excuse me?" Jacqueline stopped in her tracks, clearly taken aback by Rory's sudden accusation.

"Did you or did you not cheat on Tristan with Duncan?" Rory didn't back down. She insisted on finding out the truth.

"How dare you-"

"I guess I'm repeating myself here. Did you or did you not cheat on him Jacqueline? He knows you went home with Duncan the other night."

The look of guilt on the girl's face told her all she needed to know. She was stupid to think that Jacqueline was different.

Rory shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe that you would do that to him. He trusted you."

"Yeah I'm sure you ran and told him like the good little _girl__-__friend_ you are. Like I told you that night - Tristan was too drunk to take me home and Duncan happened to be leaving. For Christ' sake! The boy lives down the street from me!"

With Jacqueline's outburst, all eyes were on them now. And before they could add anything else to the rumors that would soon spread, Rory took her aside into an empty class room.

"You know how his past girlfriends have screwed with him. What do you expect him to think?"

"That I _wouldn't_ do that to him. He really has some major trust issues."

Rory sighed, frustrated with not knowing the truth. "I don't even know why I'm having this conversation with you. Of course you're going to deny it." Rory turned away from her and started to walk off.

As she was almost out the door she could barely make out what Jacqueline muttered under her breath-

'_You__ like__ him_'

Stunned, Rory quickly turned around.

"What did you say?"

"You _like_ him and you're just waiting for me to screw things up so you can swoop right in and make him feel all better."

Rory scoffed. "I do not _like_ Tristan. At least not in the way you're thinking. He's my _friend_ and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"Whatever." Jacqueline rolled her eyes. "Newsflash Rory. He's over you… and has been for a long time now so just stay away from him." She walked passed Rory, purposely pushing into her shoulder with her own as she walked out the door.

_Was __this girl__ serious_

**…**

Tristan's avoidance tactics worked well in his favor. He hadn't run into Jacqueline all day, but he did wish he would have run into Duncan so he could pound his punk ass into the ground.

He sat in his expensive new Maserati, given to him only months before on his birthday, a gesture of love from his parents. It was the only way they knew how to give it.

He always had the best things in life, he thought. He was privileged to be so spoiled with luxuries that most could only dream about… but not all the best things in life could be bought…

He watched as Rory appeared behind the iron gates of Chilton, the biting cold hitting her. She tugged her mittens on and rubbed them together to create some semblance of warmth. The wind blew her hair in all directions and made her skirt outline her thighs as she trudged against it.

It was grey and gloomy all around her and she seemed to possess the only color in that picture. He could probably see the blue in her eyes a mile away, he mused. He's never seen eyes like hers, so bright… a crystal blue- ten times more striking than Jacqueline's.

He could never ignore the fact that Rory was indeed a gorgeous girl.

_He shook his head and laughed at himself.__ After all these years… __she__ still had a strange effect on him __that he couldn't get rid of__ No matter how hard he tried__…_

The sound of her opening the passenger door jarred him out of his thoughts and hearing her voice made him smile boyishly.

"God it feels _so_ good in here," she told him. He took her book bag from her and placed it in the back seat.

He had the heater running for a good twenty minutes and he knew that she would appreciate it.

"I actually feel like I'm melting," she smiled at him.

Her smile was always beautiful, but the smile she was giving him at that very moment made his heart ache. Ache for something he had always wanted but couldn't have.

She felt his eyes on her… the same way she would feel him staring at her from across the classroom years ago… like he was studying her.

"What?" She looked at him strangely, but thought nothing more of it. She linked the sadness in his eyes to Jacqueline.

"Nothing."

"So… how are you?" she asked, truly worried.

"Peachy." Sarcasm didn't suit him well.

"Seriously, Tristan…"

"Look, I'm fine. So please just… drop it." His voice was forceful, but his eyes held the picture of weakness and tiredness.

"Okay," she conceded. "You don't want to talk about it. Then we won't talk about it."

It was out of her nature to comply so easily. And of all the times to change a habit, he was grateful for it. "Good, now you ready to go?" He asked, not waiting for an answer as he pulled out of the Chilton parking lot.

"What about Connor?"

"He's got baseball practice today."

After ten minutes of weird silence, Rory couldn't take it anymore.

"You want to go to Luke's and grab a bite to eat with me?" She asked, clearly forgetting Jacqueline's warning to stay away from Tristan. Truthfully, she wouldn't mind the company, knowing that her mom wouldn't be joining her. Plus, she didn't want to leave him alone. Being alone with his mind only meant trouble.

He shook his head no. "I think I'll pass."

"I thought you said you were fine." She tested him.

"Rory-"

"Y_ou_ are not fine. If you were fine you would have dinner with me in a second." It was the truth. He never said no to her. Anything she wanted he'd give in to, though she could have picked a better way to phrase it.

_God that was awkward, she thought._

Tristan raised an eyebrow.

"You love Luke's burgers don't you?" She asked, in an attempt to ease the awkwardness.

He smirked at her. She was such a goofball.

"I don't feel like being around a crowd of people right now."

"Well… what if I come over to your place? My mom is going to be at the Inn all night and the house is so quiet… I hate that it's so quiet all the time," she quietly muttered, almost as an afterthought.

He finally looked at her, deciding to put aside his teenage relationship trials and tribulations. It looks like both of them could use the other's company.

"Okay. Just no Jacqueline talk alright."

"Jacqueline who?" Rory smiled, thankfully.

**...'.' ****DuGrey**** Mansion '.'**

Rory awoke, unaware of where she was. It was definitely not her bedroom. It took a moment before realization set in. She was at the DuGrey's. Specifically in the theatre room, lying comfortably in the oversized movie chair with a chenille blanket covering her lower half.

And she was alone.

She waited for about five minutes for Tristan to come back from whatever he was doing, but he never did. She did not particularly enjoy being alone in a house that wasn't hers so she dragged herself up and out of the seat and headed downstairs to look for him.

He wasn't in his room, or the kitchen. She checked the bathrooms, but he wasn't there either. He wasn't swimming in the heated pool or in the pool house and that was when she started to panic. He has never left her alone before. She ran to the lowest level where the garage was but his car was still there.

Then it clicked, she had forgotten to check the library.

Quietly, she opened the heavy wooden double doors to the library. Relief washed over her when she saw his trademark blond head leaning against the rich dark-wine colored leather couch. The room's main source of light came from the lit fire place.

The odd sound of his faint, but slightly heavy breathing reached her delicate ears and instantly she assumed he was drunk.

As she neared him, he startled her when he straightened up, lifting his head, no longer resting it against the couch.

She froze.

"Ah fuck yea… right there babe…"

His words assaulted her ears, rudely making it clear to her that he was in the middle of some sort of sexual act.

Rory finally reacted after being completely mortified and not to mention thoroughly grossed out.

She bolted.

She bolted right into a small table she could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago. She stubbed her baby toe bringing on insane amounts of pain. "Ow! My Toe!" she cried. Then more quietly, remembering her situation…"shit…," so much for being discreet.

Tristan, in the midst of finishing his orgasm, quickly pulled his pants on leaving his belt unbuckled.

"Rory?" He strained to see her through the darkness.

Seconds before, she sank to the ground and nursed her little toe, hoping he didn't hear or see her.

"What is _she_ doing here?" she heard Jacqueline ask, wiping Tristan's remnants from her mouth.

Rory finally stood up, her back towards them, mumbling something or other, and carefully, but quickly walked out of the library shutting the doors behind her.

"Oh my god. Oh. My. God." Rory chanted to herself, extremely appalled and extremely embarrassed, as she ran upstairs to his bedroom.

"You didn't tell me Rory was here." Jacqueline said with surprising attitude.

"Yeah, well tell me when would have been the best time to tell you. Because if I remember correctly, when I opened the front door, your mouth latched on to my dick."

He was a bit upset with himself at what little self constraint he had. He did not want to give into her _apology_ so easily.

"You have a point there." She agreed, smiling sweetly at him. "I'm gonna go clean up. I'll let you handle little virgin Rory."

Smirking, he grabbed her hand and lifted her up from her kneeling position on the floor and held her firmly at her waist.

Jacqueline slid up his body wrapping her arms around his neck giving him a lingering kiss that she would believe would leave him unsatisfied all over again. Though it wasn't the case…

"See you tomorrow." He told her.

She pouted at his dismissal of her. She hadn't intended on leaving. If anyone should be leaving it should be Rory, but she wasn't one to whine so gathered her things and headed out.

**…**

He knew it was a bad idea, but when a girl has their hand in your pants ready to blow your brains out with her mouth you simply cannot resist. It's just fucking impossible. But it did float around in his head that Rory was asleep upstairs and he thought… well hoped rather, that she would stay that way until Jacqueline finished him off.

Tristan didn't bother being polite and knocking on his own door.

He saw her lying with her back against his bed, her legs hung over the side with her toes digging into the comforting softness of his carpet.

Her eyes were closed, hugging tightly to one of his pillows for dear life.

He lay down next to her, propping himself with his elbow so he could look down at her.

Tristan couldn't help but smile… the things he put this girl through.

"First I made you break your butt and now your toe..."

Silence.

"It's funny." He said matter-of-factly. "You gotta admit." He nudged her arm. "Come on. Laugh with me."

She opened one eye at him and then closed it.

"I think I may have thrown up a little in my mouth."

He smirked. It was a good sign. She didn't seem too upset.

"So… are you contemplating on ways to kill me?"

"Oh you have no idea." She said, finally sitting up. "You know, I've realized something Tristan. This is becoming a regular thing. Why is it that every time I'm around you, you're shoving your sexual relationship with whatever girl you're with in my face?"

"What? I'm not sho-"

"You are! You're always making out near my locker. What is it with that?"

"That's where Jacqueline's locker is…"

"You grope at her in front of me. Don't think I don't see it because _I do_." Rory was suddenly on a roll, letting everything out. She honestly hadn't realized until now how much it bothered her so. "You had sex with her in your bathroom when I was just a couple feet away sleeping on your couch? Explain that."

"Look-"

"I don't understand what is going on in that head of yours sometimes. Why would you have sex with her if you knew I was there? I mean who does that?? It's called common decency Tristan. The least you could've done was wake me up and tell me to leave, or you could've kept the moaning down to a hush! But did you?! No! I felt like I was right there Tristan. Hell, here's an idea that you might've enjoyed! Why didn't you screw her on the couch I was sleeping on?!"

Tristan let his elbow straighten so he could fall against the bed, groaning. He rubbed his temples. A huge headache was in his midst.

It was true. All of it. He had never thought about it before but what she was saying was true. Somehow, unconsciously, he made it a point to kiss, fondle, and have sex when Rory was in the vicinity.

_God he was a sick fuck!_

He was completely shocked at this new revelation.

"I don't know what you want me to say, but you're right, I don't use my head. I don't think… but I don't plan it Rory… it just- it happens you know… the moment is there and things just happen." It was the best excuse he could muster up.

Rory looked down at her folded arms. Maybe there was truth in what he was saying and it would explain everything. He knew firsthand what 'in the heat of the moment' felt like. She, on the other hand wouldn't know the first thing about it. She had no clue what it felt like to be so wrapped up in another person sexually that you had no other care in the world except your own and his.

She felt like such the prude now…

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

She shook her head at him. "Nothing." Tristan gave her a look that said he didn't believe her, but didn't bother pressing her. "Forget I said anything okay. Would you please just take me home?" And before he could answer, she was already out the door.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

**…**

**…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Trompe**** Le Monde**

**Author**: Genevah

**Rating:** M – just a pre-cautionary measure

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

…

…

**..…'.' ****Stars Hollow – Gilmore Home**** '.' …..**

There were no words or glances exchanged by the two during the ride to her house. They were far too occupied with their own thoughts to do so. Not even the blur the beautiful wintry canvass that surrounded them as they drove was enticing enough for them to take a second look and enjoy the cozy scenery.

It wasn't until they finally pulled into her freshly shoveled driveway (the handiwork of Luke of course) where the sound of Tristan killing the engine forced Rory back into reality.

The air of silence between them was thick - uneasy like two people meeting for the first time reaching a too awkward pause in their conversation. It seemed difficult to recover from but they both didn't want to leave things unsettled. It was just a matter of who would make the first move.

Tristan stared out the window before him at nothing in particular looking utterly regretful for what he'd unknowingly put her through and he wanted to make things right with her.

He felt like he _needed_ to make things right with her.

"I honestly wish I could explain why I do the stupid things I do." His voice sounded tired. "Being a complete jack ass… it's like it's in my blood. But what's pathetic about it is that for most part I can't even tell when I _am_ being one." He finally turned to look at her and she mimicked his action, not shying away from looking at him in the eyes. "... you have all the reason in the world to be upset with me-" his eyes sifted to her lap. "But you have to know it wasn't intentional. I would never set out to hurt you Rory… that's the last thing I ever want to do."

Sincerity was definitely becoming his strong suit especially when it came to her.

She blushed a little at his declaration. The conviction in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.

It was the oddest sensation.

"If you don't ever want to talk to me again because of this…" He sighed. He didn't even want to imagine not having her in his life. "Your friendship means a lot to me Rory." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. "You've wormed your way into my little heart Gilmore whether you wanted to or not," he looked down at his chest and patted it to emphasize his point, "and I think it'd break into a million pieces if you never wanted to speak to me again."

She grinned, rolling her eyes at his attempt to lighten the mood that had turned way too serious, especially for these two who were so used to easy conversation.

"Wow." Rory clapped her hands. "Bravo." She smiled easily at him. How could she ever stay mad at him? "Nicely done DuGrey. I'm very impressed." She said lightly.

He smirked. "That _was_ good wasn't it?" He scoffed at himself. He sounded like he was just trying to charm her and he in no way wanted her to think that.

His face fell back to serious. "I meant every word."

She nodded. "I know." She said quietly. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "You're an idiot if you think I'd actually end our friendship over a little fight." She said playfully.

The smile on his face never left him. He shrugged. "Hey it's our first fight. I don't really have anything to go by."

"I don't think I could get rid of you that easily no matter how hard I tried."

"You do have a point there. You're pretty much stuck with me."

"I believe you chose the perfect word there Tristan. _Stuck_." She joked.

He gave her a playful _'fuck you'_ look.

"It won't happen again. I can promise you that."

It seemed they couldn't keep the conversation drama free tonight.

Rory sighed "I'm not asking you to promise anything. You're in love-" Tristan raised an eyebrow and smirked and she returned a smirk of her own "Okay… lust-like whatever. You're allowed to be that way with your girlfriend and I shouldn't have any say in what you guys do and I'm in no way trying to interfere… I just" She took a deep breath, unsure if she should continue, "…I don't know… maybe I'm jealous?" She looked at him and noticed his surprised reaction and quickly clarified. "I'm not jealous _jealous_… not like you're thinking."

Tristan went from a feeling of elation to mild disappointment in two seconds flat. This girl was harsh… and she did it so innocently.

"And she breaks my heart again." He joked.

She nudged him on his shoulder. "Oh shut up… I'm jealous of what you and Jacqueline have." She continued and looked down at her hands on her lap. "I'm jealous of what Avery and Connor have and what my mom and Luke have. I don't know… I think I just miss the whole being in a relationship thing."

"Rory-"

She shook her head at the sympathetic look he had just given her. "No- Tristan, _do not_ feel sorry for me. Please… you'll just make me feel even more pathetic." She forced herself to laugh. "Don't okay." She gave him a warning look and he agreed with a nod.

"If it makes you feel any better. It's not all it's cracked up to be. That's for damn sure."

She was about to open her mouth, wanting to apologize for his situation with Jacqueline.

"Don't." He silenced her, sensing what she was about to say.

"Touché."

"So you miss having a boyfriend."

"I actually do." She giggled. "I'm just having a really bad dry spell. After Dean… I don't know… guys don't seem to be interested in me?"

Tristan scoffed at the notion as if it was the most bizarre thing he has ever heard.

His eyes squinted at her in disbelief. "You're kidding me right? _You_ think guys aren't interested in you."

"You're my friend. You wouldn't lie to me. You'd tell me if there was something seriously wrong with me, right?"

"There is nothing wrong with you – well aside from the fact that you read an obscene amount of books and have an unnatural need for coffee. Rory, I can honestly say a lot of guys think you're hot."

Rory rolled her eyes truly not believing him. "Then why haven't I been asked out by any of these supposed guys?"

"They're probably scared of you." He said jokingly.

She slapped him on his shoulder. "Gee thanks."

"Hey I was terrified of you."

"You were not!"

"I was! You were feisty when you first came to Chilton. You didn't take shit from anyone including Paris and everyone takes shit from Paris. Now that girl _scares_ me."

"You are so not making me feel better."

"I'm kidding."

"You are not. Guys really _are_ scared of me."

"When do you ever believe anything I say?"

Rory pouted. "It's believable."

He shook his head at her silliness. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth. All joking aside."

"I'd greatly appreciate that. Thank you."

"Like I said there are a lot of guys who think you're hot, present company included" he smirked at her and she rolled her eyes at him yet again, "and you have this innocence about you that makes you way hotter-"

"I thought you said the truth. You're making light of my predicament."

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

"Fine. Continue having fun at my expense."

"Where was I? You have this innocence that makes you ten times hotter and that can be a little intimidating."

"Whatever."

He held his hands up in defense. "Fine. Don't believe me. But seriously, there aren't many girls like you at Chilton Rory. You're gorgeous and kind, smart and funny, sexy and shy. All great qualities. Qualities a lot of guys look for and those qualities are hard to come by. Believe me Rory… guys do want you… you're just… _unattainable_."

Rory blushed. No guy had ever described her as such. She smiled. "Thank you."

"Besides, you're too good for anyone at Chilton."

The majority of the male population at Chilton was bred to love only money and power. The female persuasion only served two purposes: good head and sex.

"Not all of them," she said, fiddling with a nonexistent thread on her jeans.

He looked at her curiously. "Oh yeah? Has someone caught Mary's eye?"

Tristan caught a glimpse of her smile before she had a chance to hide it.

"Come on. Tell me."

She shook her head no.

"I'm hurt. Why won't you tell me?"

She still said nothing.

"Okay, who would you say would fall on your list of dateable guys at Chilton?" God he was desperate to know.

Rory smirked at his determination. "I'm not discussing this with you."

"Why not?" He sounded a bit like petulant child but he wanted to know!

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because you're you." She laughed at the vagueness of her answer.

"Since when have you not been able to talk to me about anything?"

"I don't talk about guys with you. I never have."

"You're full of shit and you know it."

She gave him the evil eye squint. "I don't know… it just seems wrong."

"Afraid I'll get jealous?" He teased.

She laughed at the idea. "Hardly."

"Okay so… we both know it's no secret that I may have had a thing for you when I first met you, but that's old news. So you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings." He smiled at her, interested to hear her reply. He meant it as an empty joke of course, and hoped she would take it as such.

This is the first time they had spoken of anything transpiring between them since sophomore year after they had decided that the kiss they shared was a mistake. Correction… _she_ had decided it was a mistake.

"Tristan…" she sounded sympathetic.

"I was kidding Rory. Honestly. I meant nothing by it. No hard feelings remember? I want you to feel like you can talk about these things with me."

She nodded.

Her mind was somehow wrapped around the thought of what could've been between them, but as quickly as it had invaded it was easily ignored and pushed aside.

"It's late. I should go inside."

"Stay." He said rather quickly.

Needless to say, the look on both their faces showed how surprised they were when he had said that.

He smirked. "You're not getting away that easily. You haven't told me who's on your it list."

She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. "It's not for you to know." She smirked back at him. "I'll see you later."

He shook his head, a bit disappointed that she wouldn't fess up.

"I have ways of getting it out of you!" He yelled out the window.

"My lips are sealed!" She bit back.

As she entered her bedroom, stripping herself free of her Chilton uniform and slipping into her most comfortable sweats, she plopped down on her bed… thoroughly exhausted from the whole of her day.

Her conversation with Tristan replayed itself in her head like a broken record.

Playfully, she entertained the notion of what it would be like to date someone like Tristan. Okay-to be honest… she was thinking about what it would be like to date _him_. From her inadvertent observation of him and his relationships over the years, he has proven many times over that he would make the perfect picture boyfriend despite his reputation for being a playboy. Once he was caught and spun under some girl's web, he was as attentive and faithful as a girlfriend would hope her boyfriend would be. And she wasn't the least bit surprised. She had seen many sides of Tristan and the good most certainly outweighed the bad.

…………

Tristan opened the door to what he had anticipated as an empty home. His parents were gone as usual, probably on some lavish trip to some far away country. He never knew their exact whereabouts and in all honesty, he could care less.

As he approached his bedroom, the faint sound of his shower penetrated his ears. A trail of clothing led him to his bathroom – a short frayed jean skirt, a tank top, panties, and as he neared the bathroom he eyed the pink bra hanging from the door knob.

He instantly grew hard.

He heard the shower turn off and as he stepped into the bathroom he was met with the lovely sight of his girlfriend toweling her breasts dry.

"Can't get enough?" He asked huskily.

Jacqueline wasn't the least bit surprised to see him standing there. In fact… she couldn't have planned the timing any better.

She finished drying her body and dropped the towel.

His eyes roamed her freshly bathed body.

"We need to talk." She told him.

He gently grabbed her at her sides and pulled her toward him.

"You want to _talk_?" _Was she serious?_"Do you feel this?" He growled, pushing his hardness into her bare pussy and attaching his lips to the sensitive spot on her neck.

She struggled to not get completely aroused by his undoing of her but she kept strong. "Now Tristan."

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked her, all the while trying to work her up by kissing her hot spots.

"Do you still think I had sex with Duncan? Because Tristan, I swear to you I didn't." There was truth to that statement. She didn't fuck him per se however there were a multitude of other things that he could choose from. Name it. They did it.

He instantly let go of her and walked out of the bathroom.

Tristan chose not to press the issue. Sadly, it was almost like he had accepted the fact that the girls he dated would cheat on him at some point.

"It's forgotten." He sat down on his couch and she followed straddling him… her nakedness no longer affecting him the way that it had.

She attempted to kiss him, but he turned his head.

"You believe me right babe?"

He looked in her dead in the eyes and simply nodded.

That night he fucked her till he couldn't feel anymore.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

…

…

**A/N: **_A huge thanks goes out__ to those who__ have continued to encourage me to keep writing__. It really does mean a lot…_


	8. Chapter 8

**Trompe Le Monde**

**Author**: Genevah

**Rating:** M – just a pre-cautionary measure

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

…

…

**..…'.' DuGrey Mansion – Tuesday Night '.' …..**

Tristan eyes traced the outline of the tree branches outside his window. The sound of his girlfriend's gentle breathing was annoying the crap out of him. He hated the fact that she slept so peacefully while he laid wide awake. Something had shifted inside him, altering his feelings towards her when she looked him straight in the eyes earlier that night and denied her infidelity. It was in that moment that he knew she would never be the love of his life or the girl that would make him cry when they would eventually break up. Jacqueline did cheat on him and he knew that it was true. And it made him sick to think that this was the kind of relationship that he deserved.

Tristan carefully pulled himself out of bed so as not to wake her. He hated the state he was in – this self-pity part for one. He changed into his sweats, grabbed his IPod and went outside for a run in the cold, indulging in the last days of winter. He loved running in the cold. The air seemed more crisp and clean than in any other season. He had hoped that it would clear his mind and soothe his nerves, but not even that could help him out. As his sneakers pounded heavily on the concrete below, one after the other, the small ache in his heart grew so great that he felt it overtake the control he had over his senses. He realized this as a single tear slipped from his eye. He quickly dismissed it with the flick of his wrist… and that was the last of it.

_Man up Tristan,_ he thought to himself and started to run like he had never run before.

The tear wasn't for Jacqueline.

It was for himself.

**..…'.' Wednesday Morning – Car ride to Chilton '.' …..**

"I'm not telling you Tristan."

"Come on. You know you're dying to."

"Whatever." Rory said rolling her eyes at him. "Why do you want to know anyhow?"

"Just curious is all."

It was seriously eating him up inside. He wanted to know who she had a crush on.

"I'm not telling."

"Is it Brad?"

She outright laughed at the thought of dating Brad. "You're a head-case you know that."

"It is isn't it? Rory has a thing for Langford."

"Ignoring you now." Rory said, crossing her arms and started out the passenger window.

"Alright alright alright. I'm done… for now." He said, smiling wickedly at her.

She shook her head at him. "You're awful."

**..…'.' Chilton '.' …..**

"_God_…wear cow bell next time." A startled Rory muttered to Jacqueline, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere when she shut her locker door.

Jacqueline pursed her lips, clearly not amused by the comment.

"So you were at Tristan's last night..."

Rory resisted the urge to roll her eyes. When exactly did their friendliness toward one another turn into _this_. – Oh right. It was when she decided to **cheat** on Tristan.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him." She practically growled as she marked her territory.

Jacqueline had finally pushed Rory's button and she now had no control over what would leave her mouth.

"What are you so worried about anyway? I have no ulterior motives to steal your boyfriend away from you. And I'm sorry but I'm not going to stop being friends with him because you feel threatened by me."

Clearly surprised by Rory's unexpected retort, Jacqueline for once was at a loss for words, but quickly wore off.

"Oh that's a good one _Mary_." She laughed haughtily. "Threatened by _you-_ little Miss Mary Sunshine? Sweetie, even if you did have a thing for Tristan and I'm almost certain that you do and too scared to admit it, but you'd bore him to death with your books. You wouldn't know the first thing on how to keep a boyfriend."

Looking behind Rory, Jacqueline caught a glimpse of the blonde they spoke of approaching them.

"I'll be seeing you Rory." Jacqueline caught up to Tristan before he made it over to where she and Rory stood.

Jacqueline snaked her arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him hello.

She looked at him all confused, demanding an explanation.

He looked down at her, his face completely expressionless. "What?"

"You tell me? What was up with that kiss? It was like kissing my cousin."

Tristan's eyes drifted towards Rory who had witnessed the whole exchange. She gave him a small smile acknowledging his efforts and walked away in the opposite direction to her next class.

He had promised her no more PDA's and he would own up to it. And presently it didn't seem like it was going to be such a hard task after all.

Jacqueline dropped her arms to her sides and glared at her boyfriend who so obviously was looking at Rory.

"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?"

"It's not anything your thinking Jacqueline." Tristan dutifully entwined his hand with hers and headed in the direction of the cafeteria. "I just told her we'd tone things down."

Jacqueline stopped in mid-step raging with disbelief. "What? Why the hell would you tell her that?"

"Look… I feel for her… I think she's starting to feel like a fifth wheel."

"Well she usually is."

"Hey. Be nice. What's gotten into you?"

"She's been clingy with you since Avery left and it's getting old Tristan. She has other friends. Why does she insist on spending most of her time with you?"

Tristan hung his head, his mind exhausted from last night. He plastered on a fake smile for her.

"You're cute, you know that?"

"Shut up. I'm being serious here."

"She's not clinging on to me."

"Oh yeah? Yesterday. What was she doing at your house?"

"You're kidding right?"

Jacqueline glared at him.

"Gilmore's one of my closest friends. She can come hang out anytime she pleases and it goes both ways. It is what _friends_ do. They hang out occasionally… _as_ _friends_."

Jacqueline made a small disgusted laugh. "Occasionally? She's with you more than you are with me."

"Do I detect some jealousy here?"

Her glare intensified as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey," he pulled her closer to him. "There's nothing to be jealous over. You're my girl." He told her exactly what she wanted to hear to smooth things over. He didn't want to deal with her right now.

"Well-", she uncrossed her arms and looked him up to him with saccharine eyes, "then quit hanging out with her so much Tristan." She said it as if it was the easiest thing to do.

Tristan pulled away slightly. Evidently, he didn't like where this was heading.

"I know you did not just say what I thought you said."

"What if I did?"

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?" _He didn't do ultimatums._

Jacqueline wasn't stupid. She knew Tristan would choose Rory over her in a minute and she didn't want to lose him.

"No… I'm not. I'm just letting you know that it bothers me."

"She's a good friend. Nothing more. You haven't had a problem with our friendship before so why is it such a big deal now."

"Because… "

He waited with annoyance for her to continue. "What is it?"

"Because she… _likes_ you." She blurted.

He truly laughed at notion.

"Rory has made it crystal clear that she has no romantic interest in me what-so-ever." She raised a curious brow at him. "What?" He asked defensively though he knew what was coming.

"You sounded kind of … bitter."

"If you think I'm harboring any feelings for her you're wrong. Yeah it's no secret I had a thing for her, but that was a long _long_ time ago."

Tristan could sense that he wasn't getting through to her.

"You have nothing to worry about. Okay? If it makes you feel any better she's interested in someone… here at Chilton." The moment those words slipped through his lips he knew he was dead. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with a _jealous_ girlfriend who _cheated_ on _him_.

What gave her the right to be jealous?

Jacqueline's interest immediately piqued. "Really? Didn't realize little Mary had it in her? Who is this guy?"

"Look, don't say anything alright. It wasn't meant to be repeated." Rory was going to castrate him if she found out he told anyone or Jacqueline for that matter. "She never told me who it was so just forget I said anything."

"I can get it out of her." She told him, already plotting in head.

"Where are you going?" She kissed his cheek and he grabbed her hand before she could slip away. "Jacqueline - I'm serious."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." He still hadn't let go of her. "I won't say anything. Promise."

**..…'.' …..**

"Yep… they are still together. I guess he's forgiven her." Rory said into the mouthpiece of her cell phone.

"That's not like him. He would've broken up with the girl by now." Avery said on the other line.

"He hasn't said anything about it and I'm definitely not going to get in the middle of that. Hey- enough about us, I want to know how your mom is doing?"

"Well… she has finally been diagnosed. She has a rare blood disorder."

"I'm so sorry."

"We're just glad we know what was happening to her. Now the doctors know how to proceed so she can get better… she's going to have to have a bone marrow transplant."

"Oh." Rory was at a loss for words, not realizing the severity of her mother's illness.

"Yeah…"

"I'm sure everything will be fine Avery."

"Yeah that's what the doctors tell me."

"It will. Your mother is so strong. She'll get through this. I know it."

Avery smiled for the first time since she arrived in Florida. It was exactly what she needed. The comfort from a friend to tell her that everything was going to be okay. It didn't matter that the best doctors at the Mayo Clinic said the same thing. She just needed to hear it from someone that was close to her. Someone whom she trusted.

"My parent's said that I could finish the rest of the week here so I guess that means I'll be back to school on Monday."

"When's you're flight? I can pick you up."

"Oh that's okay. Connor's coming to get me. I'll be back on Sunday morning and I'll be expecting a lunch date with you so you better be free."

"Definitely. It's a date."

**..…'.' …..**

"I figured out who it is." Jacqueline told Tristan.

He shut his locker, tucking a text book under his wrist and slipping a pen behind his ear with his other hand.

"What are you talking about?"

"I figured out who Rory's crushing on." Jacqueline beamed.

Tristan smirked, not believing her. There's no way she could've found out. Rory guards herself well.

"It's the new guy - the one that got expelled from St. Sebastian's."

_That guy?_

"Try again." He almost laughed.

"I'm serious."

"He's not her type." Rich, blond, playboy extraordinaire. _Definitely not her type._

"I wouldn't be so sure. Your Mary is full of surprises." Jacqueline nodded discretely, looking over his shoulder.

Tristan turned around and saw Rory standing in front of her locker, turning the dial on the lock. She was laughing… all cute… possibly at something the boy standing next to her had said. The guy turned slightly, revealing himself to Tristan.

Logan Huntzberger.

He couldn't stop staring. It was like taking in the scene of a car wreck. He silently studied Rory and her unusual movements - The way she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. The way the tips of her ears blushed. The way she playfully hit this guy on his chest…

Then suddenly, Rory's crystalline blue eyes locked onto his.

It was a strange moment for the two, both feeling as though they were caught doing something they shouldn't be doing. Tristan quickly replaced the shocked look on his face with a barely there smirk. Rory returned a similar look of shock, slightly embarrassed at the fact that she had been outright flirting with a boy and was seen doing so… by him no less.

Tristan felt his chest tighten, desperately wanted to get out of there. He slipped his arm around Jacqueline's waist, turning her to walk off in the opposite direction.

**..…'.' '.' …..**

…

…


	9. Chapter 9

**Trompe Le Monde**

**Author:** Genevah

**Rating:** M – just a pre-cautionary measure

**Disclaimer:** I claim to own nothing.

**Summary:** Sometimes the one you're with isn't always the one you need.

…

…

**..…'.'Chilton'.' …..**

The temperature in Hartford was a comfortable 65 degrees with skies so clear that the sun had full reign to spread its warmth. A welcoming indication that spring was nipping at the heels of old man winter.

It was yet another end to a school day when Tristan stepped out from the confines of Chilton finding himself embracing the inviting warmth and letting it settle on his taut skin. It barely calmed the aggravation he felt since fifth period when he witnessed Huntzberger working his charms on Rory.

The part that gnawed at him was that she ate it up like it was her favorite flavored ice cream. It was so uncharacteristic of her. She usually despised arrogant, self-righteous heirs like Logan. What had changed?

Tristan continued towards his car. The final bell rang only two minutes before but he was already well on his way to the senior parking lot. He didn't want to get sucked into the mindless chatter of his fellow classmates so he eliminated the last stop to his locker making sure he had all the required reading materials needed for the evening's assignments with him at his last class.

Two chirps disarmed his vehicle and he deposited his Chilton blazer and textbooks in the back seat.

Tristan was a fine specimen of a male eighteen year old. Any girl could easily lose her breath if they saw him at that moment. His slender 6'0 frame with impeccably sculpted lines and planes leaned languidly against the passenger door of his sports car. It was as if he was posing for a photo shoot modeling ridiculously overpriced aviator sunglasses. Nevertheless, he was a perfect still shot of seduction and desire. And if that wasn't enough to wet a girl's appetite, his navy blue striped tie was loosened and slack around his neck and the buttons on his long-sleeve oxford shirt were undone revealing the white tee underneath that barely hid the expanse of his well toned chest. It was sometimes too easy for him to be that beautiful.

As carefree and relaxed as he looked on his exterior, inside he was a mess of emotions as he anxiously waited for Rory.

He found that he didn't have to wait too long when he spotted Rory and her bright-ass school bus yellow backpack coming into full, rather stunning view. His heartbeat quickened as per usual, unable to ignore her simple yet complicated beauty.

As she approached him he could see that the wheels were churning in that head of hers processing the ever infuriating smirk on his face. It only took a few seconds for realization to set in.

"Shut it Tristan." She ordered at once before he could even open his mouth to greet her. It was obvious she knew what he was up to. "I'm not in the mood."

He cocked his left brow at her, his tongue peaking out, wetting his bottom lip. "Well then, let's work on getting you in the mood. Shall we?" He told her as he stepped into her personal space toying with the black strap from her book-bag that dangled by her hip. Hey she set herself up for that one.

Rory rolled her eyes at him and cast him a look of something fierce. Though Tristan remained unaffected by it. It took years of practice to get him to that point. She could be deadly with her wicked expressions when the receiving party was none the wiser.

"You know..." He started, shoving his sleeves up his arms one after the other and stepping back to lean against his car again, "I never would have guessed-"

"What exactly is it about 'shut it' do you not understand? Would you prefer I show you?"

She was fiesty today. He loved fiesty Rory.

"If it involves your lips and mine then by all means, I'm a fast learner."

This time Rory stepped into his personal space and stood on her tippy-toes to barely reach his eye-level. It appeared as though she was aligning their lips for the ultimate kiss. Tristan found himself stupidly holding his breath.

"I don't think Jacqueline would appreciate that. Would you?" She clearly hung around him way too much. The smirk on her face mimicked his perfectly.

He shook his head, letting reality set back in. He ignored her comment and continued where he originally left off, "-I thought you were more of a brunette kind of girl."

"And here we go..." Stepping back, Rory folded her arms in front of herself, her stance feigning exhaustion.

Tristan smirked. "I mean come on. Logan Huntzberger? He's clearly a blonde, and as natural as they come."

He noticed the light blush that colored her cheeks at the mere mention of Logan's name and he immediately detested her reaction. It was until that moment he loved to see the pretty blush. Now not so much.

Rory sighed dramatically glancing up to the sky begging aloud, "Why me?" Her cute pout made his teasing worthwhile.

He was instantly mesmerized as his eyes subtly roamed the length of her neck, fixated on the visible pulse on her porcelain skin. He quickly averted his eyes the second she righted herself so she wouldn't catch him.

She didn't.

"What Tristan? What is it that you are dying to know?"

Tristan merely raised his eyebrows at her and she knew exactly what he wanted to know.

"**Fine. Yes.** I find him mildly interesting. There. Are you satisfied?"

"_Mildly interesting_. That's an odd choice of words to describe the guy Ror, I think I'd be offended if I was him."

"Well be glad you're not. Now can we drop this and move on to a more entertaining subject that doesn't include me?"

"Ah but I like this subject. It's one of my favorites."

She glared at him.

"This guy's a joke Rory and you know it."

"Are we seriously doing this?"

Tristan nodded.

"I've talked to Logan twice. Nothing earth-shattering."

"I saw the way you looked at him," Tristan disagreed, his voice held a hint of something akin to disappointment. That look turned his world upside down. He knew Rory would someday start going out with guys though he never thought he would feel so strongly against it.

"I look at him the same way I look at my cat."

"You don't have a cat."

"That's beside the point. The point is that if I had a cat I would look at him in the same manner as I would the cat."

Tristan looked confused. "Lovingly?"

Rory let out a frustrated growl.

"No! I'm allergic to cats."

"You lost me here Rory."

"Forget it."

"Oh no no no... your lame attempt to sidetrack me won't work. You almost got me there Gilmore."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Tell me how I looked at him then."

"Like he was a piece of meat."

"Oh shut up. I did not!" Rory slapped Tristan in the arm as she blushed fiercely, embarrassed that more than likely she looked like an idiot when she talked to Logan.

"You like him." It came out as a statement rather than a question.

"I don't even know the kid."

"But you want to get to know him," he hedged. "Admit it, he was me 3 years ago."

She laughed, truly surprised by the comparison.

"I mean why waste time getting to know him when you could just as easily date me." He said ever so charmingly.

She found the truth in that statement utterly hilarious.

He smiled brightly. "Aaah you just thought about it didn't you." He pointed at her teasingly.

She rolled her eyes at him. He would always say stuff like that. Always jokingly of course because the boy did have a girlfriend. "Whatever. Can we go now?" she asked and reached behind him to grab the handle of the passenger door but he wouldn't budge, "Move please."

"I'm just getting started." he said, looking at her from the side. "Hey, this is new to me. All these years I thought you were immune to the opposite sex. I thought for sure you'd be nun-ing thru college."

Tristan knew it was bitch ass thing to say, but part of him was selfishly getting back at her for making him feel the way he was feeling about this whole thing. God he was so insanely jealous of this guy he couldn't stop fucking with her.

She looked at him somewhat taken aback that he said those things to her. After a minute of silence she turned and began to walk away from him.

That was unexpected.

"Fuck me." He muttered, pushing off the car and shifting his sunglasses to sit atop his head.

He quickly went after her, effectively grabbing her elbow to stop her.

He looked so apologetic... she actually felt herself forgiving him instantly. So not fair she told herself.

"Hey... don't choose now to be offended by the shit I say... I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it." His voice was low and sincere.

Rory looked away. What he said had stung and on a normal day she wouldn't have let it get to her, but for some reason today of all days it did.

"Rory? Come on. Would you at least look at me?"

Nothing.

"God I'm sorry." He ran a hand up and down the back of his head, then brought both of his hands on her shoulders so that his face was directly in front of hers, desperately trying to get her to look at him. "I'm sorry," he sighed, "I'm having a fucked-up day. I really am sorry."

She shrugged him off. "You can be so obnoxious sometimes."

"You forgive me?"

"Drop the Logan talk and we'll call it even."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her back to the car.

"Starbucks?" Feeling the need to be a gentleman, he opened the passenger door for her.

He paused for a long second, openly staring at her as she secured her seatbelt. He finally closed her door once she was settled and made his way to the driver's side silently cursing his character flaw along the way.

Once he was in the driver's seat he dared to bring up on topic of Logan again. "Could you just ease my curiosity. Why him? He doesn't strike me as your type." He just couldn't let this go without knowing exactly why Rory liked this guy. What was it about Logan Huntzberger that he didn't have?

"Since when have you become an expert on whom my type is?"

Tristan sighed heavily. It was such a simple question. Why was she making it so damn difficult? Didn't she know what this was doing to his pride?

"I wasn't implying that I was. I'm entitled to my opinion aren't I?"

"Why would you want to have an opinion on whom I should or should not be interested in?

He shook his head. "You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" She was going to make him work before he'd get an answer out of her.

"Doing what?" She asked innocently.

"Would you please just answer the question?"

"No. I'm not answering your question."

He raked his hand through his hair and looked out the window in an attempt to pacify his self. It was getting to him. She was getting to him.

"Why are you upset Tristan?"

He gave her a sarcastic laugh. "I'm not upset. Why would I be upset?"

"I don't know. I don't get why you're acting this way."

"I'm acting this way because you can't answer a simple question."

Were they arguing? Rory couldn't believe they were arguing. Arguing about a guy who probably doesn't even remember her name. This was completely insane.

They sat in silence for the longest moment.

"It's hard to explain." Rory gave in. "He's... I don't know... I guess I kind of enjoy the attention he gives me. God it so sounds stupid when you say it out loud. It's not like it's even anything. He flirts with alot of girls... I'm not sitting around hoping that one day he'll ask me out."

Well, he could deal with that answer, Tristan thought.

"What does it matter to you if I like him or not?"

He seemed to be contemplating that very question before she had even asked it.

"I guess I'm just trying to look out for you. I know his reputation and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Oh." Mild disappointment could be heard in her tone, but it didn't occur to him to pay the slightest attention to it.

He started the car and they rode in silence all the way to Starbucks.

**..…'.' …..**

"Mom?" Rory called out once she entered the house.

"Kitchen." Lorelai looked up to see her daughter looking quite distraught. "Whoa, who's cat died?"

"Oh Rory… the kid's jealous of this Logan guy." Lorelai broke it down to her daughter, after she recapped what happened between her and Tristan that afternoon.

"That's ridiculous. Tristan is not jealous."

"Is it really that ridiculous Rory? I mean think about it. Wasn't he pulling the old school-boy tactics like pulling your hair and teasing you because he liked you?"

"Mom, that was three years ago. He's done with that... he's clearly moved passed it." _Several times. With several different girls._ Rory found herself frowning at the thought. She made up her mind not to analyze those thoughts. They were becoming frequent and too damn confusing.

I wouldn't be so sure of that, Lorelai thought to herself.

Rory started to get up from the couch. "I'm going to go to bed early tonight."

"Hey! Wait a minute." Lorelai grabbed her wrist before she was out of reach. "You haven't given me any dirt on this Logan guy yet."

Rory closed her eyes, scratching her brow. She just wanted this day to be over.

"Tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay, sweets." She gave her daughter a comforting smile. She could tell that she was having a trying day. "Good night."

**..…'.' '.' …..**

**…**

**…**


End file.
